{"id":39293,"date":"2024-04-30T17:12:08","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T17:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/30\/a-proposed-law-targeting-foreign-interests-in-georgia-riles-the-opposition\/"},"modified":"2024-04-30T17:12:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T17:12:08","slug":"a-proposed-law-targeting-foreign-interests-in-georgia-riles-the-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/30\/a-proposed-law-targeting-foreign-interests-in-georgia-riles-the-opposition\/","title":{"rendered":"A Proposed Law Targeting \u2018Foreign Interests\u2019 in Georgia Riles the Opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the past month, the Georgian capital of Tbilisi has been engulfed in turmoil. Protesters have taken to the streets of the city night after night. A fistfight broke<\/a> out between legislators in the country\u2019s Parliament. And over the weekend, there were clashes between police and protesters at a large demonstration in the center of the city.<\/p>\n

The trigger for the unrest was a decision early this month by the governing party, Georgian Dream, to push a bill through Parliament that the pro-Western opposition believes could be used to crack down on dissent and hamper the country\u2019s efforts to join the European Union.<\/p>\n

The draft law<\/a> would require nongovernmental groups and media outlets that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign sources to register as organizations \u201ccarrying the interests of a foreign power\u201d and provide annual financial statements about their activities. Violations would incur fines equivalent to more than $9,000.<\/p>\n

The government backed down on a previous attempt to pass the law last year after facing massive protests, but this time appears determined to push it through Parliament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n