TBILISI, March 12. /TASS/. Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili has rebuked Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and other Ukrainian politicians for their support for protests in Tbilisi.
"You have mentioned Zelensky’s address. When a man who is in a state war finds time to react to the destructive action staged by several thousand people here, it is a direct evidence that he is involved, he in motivated to see something to happening here," he said in an interview with the Imedi television channel.
"[Vitaly] Klitschko, [Mark] Feigin (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia - TASS), some other people, Ukrainian politicians came out, [David] Arakhamiya and pitiful losers came out to say that changes are needed, some scenarios, a coup. It is an open interference [into Georgia’s domestic affairs]," he said, adding that Ukraine’s authorities "should better take care of themselves and their country".
Georgia, in his words, will be able to take care of itself. According to Garibashvili, Ukrainian politicians blame Georgia for not "being involved" in the conflict in Ukraine.
In his address earlier, Zelensky thanked the demonstrators in Tbilisi who were holding Ukrainian flags during the protests and wished Georgia success on its path toward integration into Europe.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Tbilisi on March 7 and 8, after Georgia’s parliament adopted on first reading the Georgian version of a bill on registering foreign agents of influence. Both rallies ended late at night when security forces dispersed the protesters with water cannons and tear gas. More than 130 people were detained over two days of protests. Following the unrest, Georgia’s ruling party, the Georgian Dream, decided on the morning of March 9 to withdraw the bill. On the following day, the parliament voted against the initiative.
In February, the Georgian parliament registered two versions of the foreign agents bill, namely a Georgian iteration and an American one, the latter being a translation of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act. Under the Georgian version, a foreign agent is defined as a legal entity, including a media outlet, that receives more than 20% of its financing from foreign sources. The bill would not apply to individuals, whereas the US version applies to both legal entities and individuals, and stipulates criminal liability.
The initiative to enshrine the concept of foreign agents in law has given rise to serious criticism by both Georgia’s opposition and Western politicians.