The Georgian Parliament approved on Wednesday the first reading of a bill on "foreign agents" that has sparked public protests and criticism by some of the country’s foreign partners.
The legislative piece was supported by 83 MPs in the 150-member lawmaking body.
On Tuesday, protesters clashed with riot police who used pepper spray to clear the area around parliament of thousands of demonstrators in Tbilisi shouting slogans against the bill.
The Parliament will have further two hearings of the draft law before it can be approved and enter into force.
Georgia's bill on transparency
The bill calls for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.
The law empowers the Ministry of Justice to “conduct research and monitor the issue at any time in order to identify organisations pursuing the interests of a foreign power”.
