"We welcome President Zurabishvili’s defense of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future by vetoing the foreign agents law. We urge members of parliament to show the same courage and not override her veto,” Adrienne Watson, a White House spokesperson, said in a message posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The United States warned earlier this week that it would reassess its relationship with Georgia if the “Russian law,” as it has been dubbed because of its similarity to legislation used in Russia to silence dissent, goes into effect. While Georgia’s president has vetoed the legislation, the ruling Georgian Dream party that sponsored it has enough votes in parliament to override her veto, meaning that the bill could still become law. The legislation in question requires any nongovernmental organization (NGO) or media outlet that receives more than 20 percent of its funding from abroad to register as an “organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power” and submit to government oversight. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has expressed concern about the legislation in recent weeks, which Washington believes will set Georgia back in its pursuit of joining the European Union (E.U.), which granted it candidate status in December 2023, and NATO, the Western defense alliance that it has close ties to and also aspires to join. Meanwhile, Georgia’s president has called on her French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to visit Tbilisi to “definitively free the Caucasus…from Russian influence,” in an interview published on Sunday. “Let them come,” she said, referring to E.U. leaders. “Emmanuel Macron has promised me practically since I was elected in 2018 that he would come. It is essential that he do so before the start of the electoral campaign [for parliamentary elections in Georgia] in September,” Salome Zurabishvili, who is in open conflict with her government, said in an interview with the French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche. “If France is not present, it will be an aberration. I say this very clearly. I have written to President Macron and I hope that he will be present for Georgia’s Independence Day on May 26,” said Zurabishvili, a former diplomat in France. “It is not only about Georgia, it is about definitively removing the Caucasus from the Soviet yoke mentality and from Russian influence,” she stressed. “No one here wants to confront Russia. It is very important for the future of Europe, including for a Europe that is secure. Here, there is the Black Sea, a zone of energy and communications transit,” stressed the head of state of Georgia, a former Soviet republic. Regarding her presidential veto, she explained: “It will not change anything. However, it is very important…I am, in a way, the voice of this society that is saying no to this law.” Salome Zurabishvili nevertheless called for calm, asserting: “No one here wants to move toward instability.” “The law will be adopted….We cannot continue to demonstrate. Let’s take note and move on to the next stage. In a democracy, it is at the ballot box that the future must be decided,” she said. Read Also: Georgia: President’s Veto Gives Government “Moment for Reflection” (Portuguese version)