Events surrounding 'foreign agents' bill in Georgia amount to coup attempt: Russia’s Lavrov

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that the events surrounding the "foreign agents” bill in Georgia amounted to an “attempt to change the government by force.”

"There is no doubt that the law on the registration of non-governmental organizations ... was just an excuse to start an attempt to change the government by force," Lavrov said in an interview with Russian Pervy TV.

According to Lavrov the US, France, India and Israel have similar legislation and in the US, the punishment is “much more severe.”

“Nevertheless, despite the fact that in a number of European countries there are similar norms ... Mr. Borrel ... stated that the law that the Georgians are promoting ... contradicts European values and blocks the path of Georgia's accession to the EU. In general, the obvious hypocrisy," he said, referring to the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel.

Lavrov compared protests in Georgia and Moldova and said that in Georgia, the West supports opposition because it promotes Western interests, while in Moldova, the West “condemned” protests because there, the government and president represent Western interests.

"Two similar situations with protests are unfolding before our eyes, and by the way, the protests in Tbilisi were far from peaceful, as we could see, cars were turned over, and demonstrators used tear gas, and smoke bombs.

"I don't remember this in Chisinau, but even if it would be a similar action, the attitude toward it is fundamentally different," he said.