Georgian president asks constitutional court to overturn 'foreign influence' law

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili asked the country's highest court to cancel the controversial law on "foreign influence", reported AFP.
Initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party, the law was passed in May despite weeks of unprecedented street protests and warnings that it would undermine Tbilisi's European integration.
The law, which critics have compared to repressive Russian legislation used to silence dissent, requires groups that receive at least 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as "organizations pursuing the interests of a foreign power."
Pro-Western President Zurabishvili filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court of Georgia, asking it to suspend the law and repeal it permanently.
The presidential administration called the law unconstitutional because it contradicted a provision that obliges the authorities to do everything possible to achieve membership in the EU and NATO.
The Georgian president vetoed the law after it was passed, but it was overridden by parliament.
Zurabishvili, a fierce critic of the ruling party, called on the opposition to form a united front ahead of parliamentary elections in October.
The Georgian government has defended the law as only aiming to increase the transparency of foreign NGO funding.
The ruling Georgian Dream, however, faces widespread accusations that it is diverting the country from its path to EU membership and back into Russia's orbit.
The desire for EU and NATO membership is enshrined in the Georgian constitution and, according to opinion polls, is supported by over 80% of the population.
Brussels warned that the law was "incompatible" with Georgia's prospects of joining the bloc.
In June, EU leaders decided to stop Georgia's accession process.
The US imposed visa restrictions on "individuals who are responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia". | BGNES