TBILISI, March 18. /TASS/. The Georgian parliament has approved, in its second reading, a bill on foreign agents, which mirrors the US’ Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), during a plenary session broadcast on the parliament's website.
"86 for, zero against. The package was adopted in the second reading," Chairman Shalva Papuashvili said.
In early February, the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party said it would adopt a law on foreign agents exactly like the one the US has on its books, called FARA. According to the party leaders, the new law will better combat foreign financing of non-governmental organizations, the real goal of which is to support revolutionary processes, than the law On Transparency of Foreign Influence adopted in May last year. The Georgian law, unlike the US one, does not apply to individuals and only stipulates a fine for a failure to file a tax return. The US law carries a prison sentence of up to five years.