World

Georgian PM calls U.S. criticism of draft ‘foreign agents’ law false

2024.05.03 07:04

Georgian PM calls U.S. criticism of draft 'foreign agents' law false

TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze rejected on Friday U.S. criticism of a draft “foreign agents” law, saying Washington’s statements on the issue were false and reminiscent of earlier meddling which had fuelled violence.

The draft legislation, which is winding its way through the Georgian parliament, would require organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, a requirement opponents attack as authoritarian and Kremlin-inspired.

Protesters have taken to the streets of Tbilisi for weeks to show their opposition. The European Union and the United States have urged Tbilisi to drop the legislation or risk harming its chances of European Union membership and a broader Euro-Atlantic future.

The standoff is seen as part of a wider struggle that could determine whether Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people that has experienced war and revolution since the fall of the Soviet Union, moves closer to Europe or back under Moscow’s influence.

“I explained to (senior U.S. diplomat Derek) Chollet that false statements made by the officials of the U.S. State Department about the transparency bill and street rallies remind us of similar false statements made by the former U.S. Ambassador in 2020-2023,” Kobakhidze said in a statement on X.

He said the previous U.S. statements had encouraged violence from what he called foreign-funded actors and had supported “revolutionary processes” which he said had been unsuccessful.

“I clarified to Mr. Chollet that it requires a special effort to restart the relations (between Georgia and the United States) against this background, which is impossible without a fair and honest approach.”

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or
remove ads
.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party and a former prime minister, has said he will fight for what he called “the full restoration of the sovereignty of Georgia”, and has suggested that the West is trying to meddle and drag his country into conflict.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 97,582.15 1.01%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,364.24 0.21%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.06%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 250.63 2.54%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 663.54 0.21%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.40 8.65%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.418664 11.69%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.99959 0.04%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.03 3.78%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,354.64 0.16%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.210503 2.69%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.561425 30.64%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 40.83 3.66%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.14 7.71%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000026 7.32%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,003.99 0.75%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 97,270.06 1.14%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.58 11.48%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 16.99 1.44%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 500.74 5.70%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,372.82 0.39%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.37 6.11%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00002 8.50%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.71 1.47%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.32 1.64%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 97.85 4.40%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.91 2.92%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.17 3.20%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,548.20 0.34%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.148372 0.29%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.22 1.35%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 0.999898 0.10%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.190673 0.15%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.553818 3.00%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 28.55 3.17%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.79 0.33%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 526.51 0.02%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.48 10.80%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.04%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.149747 4.86%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.56 0.23%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.89 14.11%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.998929 0.14%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.843176 2.53%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.042218 3.06%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000045 12.50%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.65 9.91%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.68 6.09%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 53.71 5.32%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 3.17 7.52%