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In Georgia, there have been renewed clashes between demonstrators and the police in the capital Tbilisi. Officers used tear gas and flash grenades to disperse the crowd, Reuters reports.
Source: BELGA
Yesterday at 00:31
Just like on Tuesday, tens of thousands of people had gathered in the center of Tbilisi. They were protesting against a new law targeting “foreign agents.” The controversial law means, among other things, that organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from other countries must register as ‘agents’ influenced by foreign countries. The text is inspired by a Russian law that the Kremlin has used for years to prosecute dissidents.
On Tuesday, parliament voted in favor of the law in a first reading, which happened again on Wednesday in the second reading. With a third approval, only the president must sign the law before it takes effect.
The law has received a lot of criticism from the West and from the population, who are predominantly in favor of joining the European Union and NATO. Protesters on Wednesday waved EU flags in front of the parliament building and loudly played Beethoven’s Ode an die Freude, the official European anthem.
Von der Leyen received
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said on Wednesday that she was monitoring the situation in Georgia “with great care” and condemned the violence in Tbilisi. She believes that the government should listen to the citizens on the streets. “The Georgian people want a European future for their country.”
Georgia has officially been a candidate country for the EU since December. The bloc has often expressed concerns about the controversial law and Von der Leyen now wants it to be withdrawn, otherwise the country cannot take new steps in the accession process. “Georgia is at a crossroads. It must stay on course on the road to Europe.”
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