Unsurprisingly, the pro-European president refused to promulgate this law, even though it was passed in parliament, where the governing party claims to have a sufficient majority to override the presidential veto.
The President of Georgia, Salomé Zourabichvili, a pro-European in open conflict with the government, announced that she would veto the much-criticized law, passed this week in parliament, on “foreign influence”. But the ruling “Georgian Dream” party claims to have enough votes in Parliament to override it.
“Today, I am vetoing (...) the law which is Russian in its essence and which contradicts our Constitution,” declared Salomé Zourabichvili, while the text adopted this week by Parliament is denounced by its detractors as aiming to divert Georgia from Europe and drag it towards Russia.
Gigantic demonstrations
This law on “foreign interference”, inspired by legislation in force in Russia to repress the opposition, was voted on Tuesday in final reading by Georgian deputies.
The demonstrations against this text, which targets the media and NGOs receiving foreign funds, have lasted for more than a month, bringing together considerable crowds brandishing European, Ukrainian and Georgian flags and chanting slogans against Russia, which made the war on Georgia in 2008.
Also read “Russian law” adopted in Georgia: Europeans alongside the streets
Some 30,000 Georgians opposed to a controversial bill passed the day before in parliament, which threatens to hinder the country's accession to the EU, gathered again on Wednesday evening in the center of the capital Tbilisi.
EU membership in question
The day after this vote, NATO, the European Commission and the UN condemned this government initiative.
The visiting foreign ministers of Estonia, Iceland and Lithuania joined the march to the protest site on Wednesday, before addressing the crowd in a gesture of solidarity with the demonstrators.
“We are here to support the aspirations of the Georgian people to be part of the European Union and NATO,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told AFP. “We are at their side, they are not alone, their concerns are heard, they are supported,” he added.
Also read: Salomé Zourabichvili: join the European Union at all costs
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, on behalf of the European Commission, called on Georgia to “withdraw” this law, deemed contrary to the “values” and “essential standards” of the EU.
His vote has “a negative impact” on this state’s accession process to the EU, he stressed in a press release. Georgia has officially been a candidate for entry into the European Union since December 2023.
It also aspires to join NATO, whose spokesperson, Farah Dakhlallah, denounced on X a measure which “distances” it from its “European and Euro-Atlantic integration”.
The 27 members of the European Union, however, failed to reach agreement on a common text, due to opposition from Hungary and Slovakia, according to diplomats in Brussels.