President of Georgia Appeals to Constitutional Court for First Time to Challenge Pro-Russian Anti-European Law on "Foreign Agents"

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court demanding to suspend and permanently repeal the law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence", which has been criticised in the EU and in Georgia itself for being anti-democratic and similar to the Russian law, and which, despite the criticism, was adopted by the Georgian parliament, which is under the influence of pro-Russian forces in the country. 

This was reported by the Georgian First Channel.

The Parliamentary Secretary of the Georgian President Giorgi Mskhiladze noted that the head of state is filing a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court of Georgia for the first time, as the law on "foreign agents" is unconstitutional.

"It contradicts Article 78 of the Constitution of Georgia. The lawsuit also challenges a number of provisions of the law that violate a number of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. With this lawsuit, the President demands the suspension of the law and its final cancellation," he explained. 

Similar lawsuits are going to be filed with the Constitutional Court by non-governmental organisations, various media outlets, and opposition MPs.

Earlier, the European Union's Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Gerczynski, said that Georgia's accession to the EU had been suspended due to the adoption of the Russian law, the so-called 'foreign agents' law.

He also announced the freezing of 30 million euros to support Georgia's defence sector. In turn, the United States announced the "indefinite postponement" of the Noble Partner joint military exercises.

Also, for the first time since 2008, the NATO summit decision did not mention Georgia's accession.