TBILISI, May 8. /TASS/. The organizers of protests against a foreign agent bill in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi are plotting provocations involving volunteers fighting on Ukraine’s side, the Georgian State Security Service said in a statement.
"Some groups are trying to stage provocations at the rallies taking place in front of the Georgian parliament building. Aimed at implementing destructive and violent scenarios, they are being funded from overseas by certain political parties - both parliamentary and non-parliamentary ones - and non-governmental organizations. These criminal plans involve Georgian nationals currently based abroad, including some Georgians fighting in Ukraine," the statement reads.
The State Security Service claimed that foreign instructors were training protesters to stage provocations against police and create chaos in the country. Rally participants plan to cripple transport hubs and block government buildings.
According to the State Security Service, protesters in Tbilisi are using methods of color revolutions with their ultimate goal being to seize power by force.
Foreign agent bill
On May 1, 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." The initiative keeps causing protests in Tbilisi, which escalate into clashes with law enforcement officers.