Europe live: Georgia cancels parliament session amid huge protests against âforeign agentsâ bill | Georgia
'The ball is in Georgia's court': Top EU Commission official meets with Georgia's opposition
The European Commissionâs Gert Jan Koopman, head of the directorate-general for neighbourhood and enlargement negotiations, is in Georgia and met with the countryâs president and opposition parties.
âThe EU will spare no effort - but the ball is in Georgiaâs court!â he said.
Gitanas NausÄda, the Lithuanian president, condemned violence against protesters in Georgia.
âI strongly condemn violent attacks on pro-European protesters by Georgian authorities. Georgiaâs government is pushing the country into a backslide& undermining its European perspective,â he warned.
âGeorgia belongs in Europe. Georgian people chose European future& nobody has the right to take it away from them,â the Lithuanian leader added.
Elina Valtonen, the Finnish foreign minister, said âworrying scenes in Georgia. Violence against peaceful protestors is not acceptable.â
She added:âGeorgia was granted EU candidate status and we expect Georgia to stay on that path, which is the peopleâs choice. People have the right to demonstrate against the law on foreign influence.â
Georgiaâs parliament yesterday approved the second reading of the controversial âforeign agentsâ bill, which has fuelled a political crisis and massive protests.
Reuters reported that police fired tear gas and stun grenades to clear a large crowd of protesters opposed to the draft law.
11 people, including six police officers, had received hospital treatment after Wednesdayâs altercations, according to Georgiaâs health ministry.
'Their voices must be heard': UK calls for right to protest to be respected
The British embassy in Georgia said today that âwe continue to watch unfolding events very closely.â
âThe people of Georgia are loud and clear in their wish to become members of Euro-Atlantic family. Their voices must be heard. Their right to peaceful protest must be respected,â it added.
Georgiaâs parliament cancelled its planned plenary session for today following large protests against a âforeign agentsâ bill that has raised concerns that country is moving away from democratic norms and closer to Moscow.
The parliamentâs announcement said the cancellation was connected to damage the building suffered during Wednesday protests, the Associated Press reported.
Welcome to the blog
Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog, where today we will focus on the latest in Georgia.
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