Police used water cannons and tear gas against protesters in Tbilisi

On the evening of March 7, police in Tbilisi used water cannons and pepper spray against demonstrators protesting against the Foreign Agents Bill pending in the Georgian parliament. However, the demonstrators refuse to disperse.According to the Georgia Ministry of the Interior, the demonstration took on a “violent character”. In particular, according to the ministry, the demonstrators “attempted to block one of the entrances to the parliament” and “there were acts of violence against ministry employees”.Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who is visiting the United States, has canceled all meetings at the UN and, according to her administration, will soon address the people. Zurabishvili initially opposed the Foreign Agents Bill, warning that she would veto it. Even if the power in place and its satellites have enough votes in parliament to defeat the presidential veto.On the afternoon of March 7, the Georgian parliament passed a first reading of a Foreign Influence Transparency Bill, which was drafted by the anti-Western MP group Power of the People, which maintains close ties to the ruling Georgian Dream party. .Opponents of the authorities claim that the two bills are, in fact, an analogy with the Russian law on foreign agents, after the introduction of which independent NGOs and journalists stopped working in the Russian Federation.Meanwhile, the ruling Georgian Dream party denies the charges and says the bill is only intended to provide “transparency” in the funding of NGOs and the media and is not intended to persecute or shut them down.The US State Department, EU, NATO, PACE, Council of Europe, US and EU Ambassadors to Georgia have warned Tbilisi of the consequences of the law on media and NGO regulation, stressing that it will affect freedom of expression and democracy in Georgia, as well as slow the pace of the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration.Earlier, the US Embassy in Georgia issued a statement calling March 7 a “dark day for Georgian democracy.”“The continued consideration in Parliament of laws inspired by the Kremlin is incompatible with Georgia’s manifest desire for integration into Europe and the democratic development of the country. Passing these laws will damage Georgia’s relationships with strategic partners and undermine the important work that many Georgian organizations are doing to help their fellow citizens. This process and the bills raise real questions about the ruling party’s commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration,” the U.S. Embassy said in a March 7 statement.