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Georgian parliament cancels plenary session after protesters storm building

On Wednesday, Georgia’s parliament passed the second reading of the bill "On the Transparency of Foreign Influence," which had been opposed by President Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition and Western diplomats

TBILISI, May 2. /TASS/. The Georgian parliament’s office has decided to cancel Thursday’s plenary session and bureau meeting after protesters rallying against the foreign agent bill tried to break into the legislature building on May 1, the parliament said in a statement.

"The parliament building and infrastructure facilities suffered damage after protesters carried out an assault on the Georgian parliament palace on May 1. As a result, the events that were scheduled to be held at the parliament palace today, on May 2, (a bureau meeting and a plenary session) will not take place," the statement reads.

Georgian Interior Minister Ilia Darchiashvili was expected to give a report to lawmakers on Thursday. The parliament office specified that the red security level declared on Wednesday would remain in effect until 2:00 p.m. local time (10:00 a.m. GMT).

On Wednesday, Georgia’s parliament passed the second reading of the bill "On the Transparency of Foreign Influence," which had been opposed by President Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition and Western diplomats, who see it as an obstacle to Georgia’s integration into the European Union. Opposition members and civil activists have been holding protest rallies in front of the parliament building in the country’s capital of Tbilisi since April 15.

In early April, the ruling Georgian Dream party announced its decision to reintroduce the bill a year after the initiative was quashed following mass protests. The bill is almost identical to last year’s, with one exception: the term "agent of foreign influence" has been replaced with "organization pursuing foreign interests."

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