Thousands protest in Georgia over the weekend against ‘Russia-style’ law on foreign influence

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s parliament green-lit a final vote on a proposed law that critics see as a threat to media freedom and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union, after police dispersed the latest protests against it over the weekend. The bill would require media and nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. The opposition denounces the bill as “the Russian law,” because Moscow uses similar legislation to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists critical of the Kremlin. Huge protests against the bill have rocked Georgia for weeks.