We are disappointed to see that the Parliament of Georgia override the veto of the President of Georgia on the anti-democratic “foreign agents” bill, although the vote was not unexpected. Such a statement made the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

“We saw tens of thousands of Georgians protesting this bill last week, one of the largest protests in Georgia’s history, and we know that many Georgians have made their opposition clear. This legislation requires civil society organizations to register as agents of a foreign government simply because they receive 20% of their funding from abroad.

Civil society organizations play an important role in maintaining democracy, and creating this burden undermines their ability to do so. Suppressing civil society is what authoritarian governments do, and it is a weapon and tactic to suppress dissent. That’s not what democracies do, so we’re disappointed to see what happened”, - said the White House Press Secretary.