"Nobody needed this law on agents, it could have only come to be at Moscow’s behest" - President of Georgia

Zurabishvili supported the protest against the law on agents

“Nobody needed this law, it came from nowhere, it could have only come to be at Moscow’s behest. This law must be revoked,” Georgian president Salome Zurabishvili as thousands had taken to the streets in Tbilisi to protest against the bill “On Foreign Influence”, which was adopted by the parliament in the first reading on March 7.

Zurabishvili, now in New York, addressed the protesters gathered outside the parliament building on the capital’s central Rustaveli Avenue:

“I appeal to those who are now standing on Rustaveli tonight, as they have stood many times. I’m standing here in New York with the Statue of Liberty behind me. This is the symbol that Georgia has always fought for. I am with you. Today it is you who represent free Georgia.”

Foreign agents bill adopted in Georgia in first reading. Rally in Tbilisi dispersed with water cannons and tear gas

A large-scale protest action is taking place near the Parliament in Tbilisi after the foreign agents bill adopted in first reading

“Georgia, which sees its future in Europe, will not allow anyone to take this future away. This future belongs to the next generation. This is the future that the previous generations laid the groundwork for, that laid the groundwork for, too. No one has the right to take your future from you. No one has the right to set a trap.”

Zurabishvili reiterated that she would veto the law:

“In whatever form, this law should not be sent to the Venice Commission. The Venice Commission knows perfectly well what kind of law this is. I said from day one that I would veto it, and I will.

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I’m not interested in this article-by-article discussion. I don’t care about its ‘semblance’ to the old American law, which, as we know very well, served a completely different purpose. I am only interested in the future of Georgia, only in the constitution of which I am the guarantor.

And this constitution says that all the institutions of Georgia, and first of all I, the government, the authorities, must do everything to bring this country to the European Union, to protect the path of European integration,” the president said.

Salome Zurabishvili is on a business visit to the United States but has canceled all meetings scheduled for today at the UN.

On March 7, the Parliament of Georgia, by 76 votes against 13, passed the first reading of the bill on “agents of foreign influence”. The bill was put up for discussion unexpectedly and in a rush on March 7, after the Georgian Dream MPs had gone back on the initial plan for it to be discussed on March 9.

The discussion took place against the backdrop of street protests. In the evening, tens of thousands of citizens gathered outside the parliament.

The rally, which began around 18:00 continues to this moment [02:00 a.m]. Outside the parliament building, an unprecedented number of police and special forces have been mobilized. They have used water cannons and sprayed teargas to disperse the crowds.

Several citizens are known to have been injured. Three people are believed to have been arrested so far.