Georgia’s Zourabichvili: Contentious 'foreign influence' bill a copy of Russian law
Georgia's parliament has voted in the first reading to approve a controversial law that has sparked mass protests in the country. The bill, which would require media and non-commercial organisations to register as being under foreign influence if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad, has been denounced by opponents as "the Russian law" due to similar legislation in Russia. “When the law that is used is a copy of the law that President Putin has imposed upon Russia with the success that we’ve seen: no more non-governmental organisations, no more opposition … that is not a future that the Georgian population is ready to accept,” Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili told FRANCE 24.