The White House said on Tuesday that if a foreign agents bill passed by Georgia’s parliament becomes law, the US would have to “fundamentally reassess” its relations with the country.
The bill, titled “On the Transparency of Foreign Influence,” requires non-governmental organizations that receive at least 20% of their funding from abroad to register as foreign agents. Proponents of the bill in the ruling Georgian Dream Party have compared it to the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires individuals or entities engaging in lobbying or other activity on behalf of a foreign country to register as foreign agents with the US Department of Justice.
The US and other Western nations have compared the bill to a similar law enacted by Russia in 2012. The Russian law was part of Moscow’s response to the US government funding NGOs and opposition parties.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned the Georgian bill as “Kremlin-style ‘foreign agents’ legislation.” Georgia’s president is expected to veto the bill, but the parliament could override it.
“It is unclear whether parliament will try to override a potential veto, we have been outspoken about our concerns with the legislation, which runs counter to democratic values and would move Georgia further away from the values of the European Union and, let’s not forget, also NATO,” Jean-Pierre said.
She also expressed support for the protesters who have held demonstrations against the legislation. “The Georgian people have been making their views known about this legislation, protesting in the streets, as you all have been reporting,” she said. “We will see what the parliament does. But if this legislation passes, it will compel us to fundamentally reassess our relationship with Georgia.”
That is a true who cares situation.
Yeah, here in the US we have a foreign agent’s law too, jeez. So far away from the values of NATO. /sarc.
Let me see if I got this right. Georgia wants organizations funded by a foreign power — ie the US — to register. The United States objects, presumably because the US is pouring money into Georgia to destabilize it the way it destabilized the Ukraine, attempted to destabilize Russia, and undermined all manner of Eastern European countries with color revolutions.
It would seem Georgia doesn’t want to end up like Ukraine. Imagine that.
Correct! The USA used such groups for its 2003 coup and took control of Georgia, making it a puppet that sent its troops to Iraq. Georgia has broken free so now the USA plans another coup.
… and encouraged with NATO aspirations.
… of bribes up the wazoo from weapons companies.
Imagine if some civil or political organization received twenty percent of their income from Russia or from China in a Western country.
I think we would undoubtedly see actual documented cases of spontaneous human combustion. FARA is of course incomparably more restrictive. It is also completely arbitrarily, or lets take a more appropriate word: cynically applied.
But it is the preferred method for Western powers to exercise their power to unseat any foreign government who for some inexplicable reason dares to commit the unforgivable crime of prioritizing their own national interests over that of the US or EU elites.
By slushing in endless amounts of cash to corrupt the system, buy loyalties, similar to any crime syndicate worth their salt have hitmen on the payroll, and foment political violence to make the targeted nation ungovernable, create civil unrest and with any luck a civil war.
Perhaps that is the hope this time. The Western press are in any case doing their best to pour fuel on the fire. Which shows you directly where the interests lie. The Georgians are already well on their way to lay down their lives to defend those interests. Not theirs in any case.
Indeed, exactly how Ukraine was turned into a shithole.
It’s the Biden model for governing.
Imagine if some civil or political organization received twenty percent of their income from Russia or from China in a Western country.
I’d imagine they’d have to register as foreign agents – just like they’d have to under Georgia’s new law.
Security for me but not for thee… That’s the American “Arsenal of Hypocrisy” Way!
Naked support for corruption. They should tell us to F off.
Much of the worl is figuring out the US is the home of the bad guys and they fund wars on borrowed money.
“Home of the bad guys.” You don’t like America.
Wow, we’ve got a rocket surgeon here!
Why would “the US have to “fundamentally reassess” its relations with the country”? Is transparency not important to avoid foreign meddling? So what’s the objection? The answer is obvious.
georgia deserves it
I could give a rat’s behind what the White House thinks or says. This administration is hooking for both Zelensky and Netanyahu. War criminals is too generous a term for such “people”.
Does anyone really believe that people would be protesting a bill like this if they weren’t getting paid to do it?