Washington, March 9. The United States on Thursday encouraged Georgia to carry out the reforms necessary to one day join the European Union (EU), after the Georgian authorities decided to withdraw a controversial bill on “foreign agents”, after two days of mass protests.
“We encourage Georgia’s political leaders to work together on the reforms needed to achieve European Union candidate status, which Georgians overwhelmingly want,” Georgia’s State Department spokesperson said during a briefing. US state press conference, Ned Price.
This Thursday, the promoters of the controversial bill in the Eurasian nation – the People’s Force movement and the ruling Georgian Dream party – “unconditionally” withdrew their legislative initiative, already approved in the first reading by Parliament.
Critics say the bill is reminiscent of the law that, since mid-2020, Russia has used to stifle and ban critical views from the opposition, NGOs, media and human rights activists in classifying them as “foreign agents”.
From Moscow, the Kremlin assured that it had nothing to do with the crisis caused in Georgia by this regulation, while the Georgian opposition announced that it would continue the protest actions, because it does not trust the ruling party announcement.
Price said that “for decades Georgian citizens have expressed their desire for Georgia to join the European Union, aspirations “that the United States will continue to support.”