Georgia: The ruling party of Georgia has announced that it is withdrawing a draft law from parliament that has been criticised as potentially stifling media freedom and civil society after days of protests against it in the capital.

The Georgian Dream Party noted in a statement that it would “unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported without any reservations.” The statement cited the importance of reducing “confrontation” in society.

The bill would have required Georgian organisations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” or face fines.

Earlier, Georgian Dream stated that the law was necessary to unmask critics of the Georgian Orthodox Church, one of the country’s most powerful institutions.

Opponents of the bill, including Georgian President Ms. Salome Zourabichvili, who earlier declared that she would veto it if it crossed her desk, have compared it with a 2012 Russian law that has been used to suppress dissent.

The Georgian government observed that the legislation is modelled on US foreign agent laws, in place since the 1930s.

The bill angered supporters of Georgia’s membership in the European Union after EU officials condemned the draft law and added that it would complicate Georgia’s path to joining the bloc. In 2022, the EU declined to grant Georgia candidate status alongside Moldova and Ukraine, citing stalled political and judicial reforms.

An EU delegation in Georgia declared that it welcomed a decision taken by the governing party to withdraw controversial legislation.

“We welcome the announcement by the ruling party to withdraw draft legislation on ‘foreign influence’. We encourage all political leaders in Georgia to resume pro-EU reforms for Georgia to achieve candidate status,” the EU statement remarked.

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