TBILISI. March 7 (Interfax) - The parliamentary majority of Georgia on Tuesday voted for one of the proposed bills on registering foreign agents in the first reading.
All opposition factions voted against the bill.
The bill "on the transparency of foreign influence" is now adopted in the first reading. The bill was drafted by a group of lawmakers representing the People's Power faction.
Another proposed bill on registration of foreign agents is a translation into Georgian of the existing U.S. legislation adopted in 1939 in order to fight against fascism.
Both draft laws will be sent to the Council of Europe Venice Commission for examination, according to the parliamentary majority. After that, these bills will be heard and possibly passed in the second and third readings by the Georgian parliament.
The bill that was adopted in the first reading on Tuesday was being discussed amid confrontation between representatives of the parliamentary majority convinced in the need for this law and the opposition whose members believe that Georgia is changing its political course toward European integration for a rapprochement with Russia.
Opposition supporters gathered in front of the parliament building on Tuesday in protest against the adoption of foreign agent legislation.