Georgian president vetoes 'foreign influence' law

TBILISI

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has put a mostly symbolic veto on the "foreign influence" law which has sparked unprecedented protests and warnings from Brussels that the measure would undermine Tbilisi's EU aspirations.

Ruling Georgian Dream party lawmakers voted through the legislation last week in defiance of protesters concerned the ex-Soviet republic is shifting away from a pro-Western course back toward Russia.

The move has sparked a wave of protests unprecedented in the recent history of the Black Sea nation.

"Today I set a veto... on the law, which is Russian in its essence, and which contradicts our constitution," Zurabishvili said in a televised statement on the measure on May 18.

However, the Georgian Dream party has enough lawmakers in parliament to override the veto.

The bill has sparked a wave of protests unprecedented in the recent history of the Black Sea nation. Its critics say it resembles Russian legislation used to silence dissent.

According to opinion polls, more than 80 percent of the population wants to join the European Union and NATO, and is staunchly anti-Kremlin.

Brussels on May 18 repeated its warnings that the measure is incompatible with Georgia's bid for EU membership, which is enshrined in the country's constitution.

European Council chief Charles Michel on May 18 posted on X, that the president's veto offered "a moment for further reflection."

He called on lawmakers to "make good use of this window of opportunity" to keep Georgia on its EU path.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has signaled his party's readiness to consider Zurabishvili's proposed amendments to the law, should she lay them out in her veto document.

But the figurehead president, at loggerheads with the ruling party, has ruled out the prospect of entering "false, artificial, misleading negotiations" with Georgian Dream.