Georgia president says vetoed controversial ‘foreign influence’ law

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Saturday put a mostly symbolic veto on the “foreign influence” law that sparked unprecedented protests and warnings from Brussels that the measure would undermine Tbilisi’s European aspirations.

“Today I set a veto… on the law, which is Russian in its essence, and which contradicts our constitution,” she said in a televised statement, speaking about the bill that critics describe as resembling Russian legislation used to silence dissent.