Video: Altercation and Brawl in the Parliament of Georgia

The ruling "Georgian Dream" party sparked a brawl in the Parliament of Georgia over a bill concerning foreign agents.

Member of Parliament Aleko Elisashvili responded painfully to the repeated presentation of the foreign agents bill by the "Georgian Dream" party. The authors of the initiative propose to define the status of an organization operating in the interests of a foreign state.

Elisashvili labeled the bill as “Russian” and “offensive to everyone,” while members of the "Georgian Dream" party retaliated by insulting him due to his remarks, leading to a heated argument in parliament. Elisashvili was removed from the chamber before the argument escalated into a brawl.

The ruling "Georgian Dream" party plans to reintroduce the foreign agents bill in parliament. This was announced by the party's executive secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze.

“The parliamentary majority, in consultation with the party's political council, has decided to reintroduce the bill on the transparency of foreign influence,” Mdinaradze stated during a press briefing.

According to him, instead of the term “Foreign Influence Agent,” the term “Organization transmitting the interests of a foreign power” will be used.

Mdinaradze emphasized that society should be aware of what is written in this law, with his only requirement being that organizations receiving foreign funding report their financial activities once a year, for which certain fines are envisaged for violations.

It is worth noting that last March, a liberal version of the FARA foreign agents law, which was also intended to be adopted in Georgia, was deemed unacceptable by the opposition and Western politicians.

The U.S. embassy in Georgia sharply responded to the proposed law, calling March 7 a “dark day for Georgian democracy” and stating that continuing discussions on legislation inspired by the Kremlin contradict Georgia's ambition to integrate into Europe. This led to mass protests and clashes with police, with the authorities dispersing the rallies using tear gas and water cannons. Reports indicated several injuries among both police and protesters, as well as arrests of participants.

Later, the Georgian parliament voted against the scandalous foreign agents bill. The Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, stated at the time that the situation surrounding the foreign agents bill was a complex wave of misinformation and propaganda, noting that the project had not even been drafted on paper when it was called a Russian law.