Protesters smash Georgian parliament barricade over ‘foreign agents’ bill

Protesters broke through a barricade at the Georgian parliament on Tuesday, 14 May, after politicians voted to approve the third and final reading of a bill on “foreign agents” that has caused a political crisis in the country.

The legislation would require media and non-commercial organisations to register as being under foreign influence if they receive more than 20 per cent of their budget from abroad.

Weeks of mass protests erupted over the bill, which critics see as a threat to democratic freedoms and Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union.

It now faces a likely veto by president Salome Zourabichvili, which parliament can override by holding another vote on the law.