Biden Admin Urges Georgia Against Russian-Inspired ‘Foreign Agents Law’

The United States said Wednesday it will continue to urge and reiterate with the Georgian government its “dire concern” with a highly controversial foreign agent law, as Georgian parliament voted to approve it in the first reading, amid mass street protests, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The draft bill, which the opposition denounces as 'russian', if enacted, "could stigmatize civil society organizations working to improve the lives of Georgians citizens and media organizations operating within Georgia to provide information to Georgian citizens" State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily briefing.

"... This kind of legislation is not in line with the EU’s norms and values, which would certainly negatively impact Georgia’s stated goal to eventually become a party to the European Union," Patel told TURAN's correspondent.

In the meantime, he refrained from commenting further on the latest engagements with Georgian officials, saying "we never think diplomacy is dead".