Protests will be held in Riga against the law on foreign agents advanced in the Georgian parliament

Today, Europe Day, at 16 In Riga, a picket will be held in front of the Georgian embassy at 33 Valdemāra Street against the law on foreign agents introduced in the Georgian Parliament, the LETA agency found out.

The Riga City Council informed that a person has submitted an application for holding a picket in order to draw attention to the adoption of the so-called Russian law or foreign agents law in Georgia.

The picket is planned to show the solidarity of Latvian civil society with Georgian society.

It is planned that around 30 people will participate in the event.

The call to the picket was published on Twitter by the youth organization “Protests”, stating that it is organizing this event.

In solidarity with Georgian civil society, it will stand up for Georgia’s future in the European Union and against the so-called Russian law.

According to the organizers of the event, the law on foreign agents submitted to the Georgian parliament is a direct attack on civil society and democracy.

Georgia has been fighting for a place in the European Union for 30 years and finally got the status of a candidate country last year. The adoption of this law would hinder Georgia’s started path to the Euro-Atlantic course, thus bringing the country deeper into the Russian sphere of influence, the organizers of the event say.

They are calling on the Georgian authorities to stop the violence against the protesters and to halt the progress of the Foreign Agents Act.

Tens of thousands of people reportedly took to the streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi last week to protest against the “foreign agents” law.

The aforementioned law, which was approved by the Georgian Parliament in the second reading, has been criticized by the European Union, the United States and the United Nations.

The “Georgia Dream” party announced that it wants to get the bill signed by mid-May. In order for the bill to become a law, it must be considered by the parliament in three readings and signed by the president of the country.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has announced that she will not sign the bill if parliament approves it. The ruling party, however, has enough members in parliament to override the president’s veto.

The law would require non-governmental and media organizations receiving more than 20% foreign funding to register as organizations “acting in the interests of a foreign country”. That phrasing is the only difference from the draft withdrawn last year, which said the groups in question would have to register as “agents of foreign influence”.

Opponents of the bill refer to it as “Russia’s law” and argue that the adoption of the law would prevent Georgia from realizing its goal of joining the European Union (EU), which granted the country the long-desired candidate status last year.

The EU has called on Tbilisi not to accept the bill, saying it runs counter to the democratic reforms the country must undertake to move towards EU membership. The President of the European Council Charles Michel stated that the draft law moves Georgia away from the EU instead of bringing it closer to it.