Georgia Passes Updated Foreign Agents Law

Georgia’s Parliament has approved an updated foreign agents law, which they say is identical to the US Foreign Agent Registration ACT (FARA).

The law seeks to root out foreign influence in Georgia’s internal affairs, which the Georgian government claims seeks to undermine Georgia's sovereignty.

The third and final reading was passed on Tuesday with 86 deputies of Georgia’s ruling Georgia Dream Party voting for the law with no votes against as the opposition parties in Georgia have refused to recognize last year's election results and did not participate.

The Georgian Government passed an initial foreign agents law last May, which caused heavy protests and were supported by Georgia’s former President Salome Zourabichvili.

Georgia’s Parliament had to override a veto on the bill by Zourabichvili to get the bill into law. The current President, Mikheil Kavelashvili, was elected in December and is a member of Georgia’s ruling party. 

The reasoning for an updated bill according to the government was U.S. President Donald Trump’s Administration confirming that money that was sent to foreign Non-governmental Organizations (NGO’s) were used to destabilize and influence the political processes in other countries. 

The new law seeks to ensure that individual people and entities engaged in political activities register as foreign agents if they receive funding from outside the country as well as provide detailed financial statements.

The penalties for not registering under this new law can lead to a fine of 3,600 USD and a five year prison sentence, and failure to fail financial reports can lead to an 1,800 USD fine and a 6 month jail sentence.