Georgia's parliament passed yesterday on the first reading the controversial bill "on foreign agents". The vote was boycotted by the opposition, and the text was approved only with the votes of the ruling party "Georgian Dream", world agencies reported.
To enter into force, the bill must be voted on twice more, and the country's pro-Western president Salome Zurabishvili has already said she will veto it.
During the debates in parliament, thousands of people protested for several days. The situation escalated on Tuesday when riot police had to use pepper spray to disperse the demonstrators, Reuters reported.
Before that, there was also a fight in the parliament, after the MP from the opposition party “ Citizens“ Alexander Elisashvili hit the secretary of the ruling party "Georgian Dream" on the head. – Mamuka Mdinaradze, while he was answering questions from MPs during a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs. Other MPs joined the fight, and the committee meeting was interrupted.
How and why did all this come about?
In March last year, the populist administration of the ruling party “Georgian Dream“ was forced to abandon an almost identical bill on “foreign agents” after street protests in which riot police clashed with demonstrators, Politico recalled.
While most Georgians thought that the drama with the “foreign agent” is now behind them, a year after the party promised to withdraw its proposals “unconditionally”, it brought them back to parliament for a vote.
This year's bill is identical to last year's except for one change: the term "foreign agent" has been replaced by the more circumstantial "organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power", writes “Free Europe”.
The text provides that organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad will be required to register as “organizations representing the interests of a foreign power”, otherwise they are threatened with fines.
The NGO sector in Georgia is highly dependent on funding from Western governments and institutions, and several of the organizations are a constant thorn in the side of the “Georgian Dream”, the publication notes. Ruling party officials also claim that opposition politicians themselves, through affiliated NGOs, are indirectly funded by the West.
„We see the inflow of opaque money increasing in the run-up to the elections in Georgia, and most of these funds are directed to support radical parties, radical NGOs and radical propaganda media,”, the party said in a statement. accompanying the re-introduction of the bill.
Who opposes this law?
The party leaders from “Georgian dream“ tried to silence criticism by pointing out that many other countries, including democracies, have laws requiring transparency about foreign funding. They insist that the text is copied from American law, but the Georgian opposition has continued to call it a "Russian law" as it compares it to a similar law in Russia used by the Kremlin to suppress dissent, "Free Europe" reports. In Russia, hundreds of journalists, politicians, rights organizations, environmental groups, LGBTQ community support networks and others have been designated as "foreign agents", requiring them to label themselves as such every time they post something on social media or in other places. The use of the term “foreign agent”, which carries the implication of espionage, is used to create an atmosphere of suspicion around people and organizations that the authorities want to portray as subversive, commented the Swiss publication “Swissinfo”.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, a frequent critic of the “Georgian dream”, wrote on the social platform “X” that the aspiration for the adoption of the law by the rulers is a provocation and a Russian strategy for destabilization.
Nica Melia, a prominent opposition politician, told Reuters the government was in “collusion” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and defined the adoption of this law as a threat to Georgia's independence.
„What I can say definitely is that the Georgians and the Georgian will cannot be defeated,” he said. "Not a chance. Georgian interest will prevail over Russian interest," Melia added.
„I am even angrier today than I was last year”, told “Politico” Nana Malashkhia, the Georgian who rose to fame last year after a photo of her waving the EU flag under the sights of a water cannon made the rounds of the world's media.
„I am willing to do whatever it takes, but there is no going back. The fate of this country hangs in the balance – either to return to the Russian orbit or to continue on the path of European integration. I'm ready," she stressed.
Is Georgia's European integration at risk
?
In December 2023, Georgia received an invitation to start negotiations for membership in the European Union. Therefore, the adoption of this law was not only criticized by Brussels as a restriction of speech and the media, but was even called a deliberate sabotage of the country's European aspirations, noted “Free Europe”.
In its statement, the European Union expressed "serious concern" on the re-submission of the texts for voting by the parliament in Tbilisi. “Transparency should not be used as a tool to limit the capacity of civil society to act freely,” it said.
„The European Council has granted candidate status to Georgia on the condition that a number of steps must be taken. Among them are ensuring freedom of assembly and expression, and consulting and engaging with civil society, which allows for their meaningful participation in legislative and political processes and ensures that they can operate freely,” told “Politico” a spokesperson for the European Commission, who wished to remain anonymous.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also indicated that Washington was “deeply troubled by this law” and “supports the right of everyone ... to freedom of expression and freedom of speech”.
According to the government's opponents, EU membership is bad news for the “Georgian Dream”, which they say does not want to upset its relations with Moscow by taking a pro-Western political course. They also note that Georgia's elites fear that their interests could be harmed if the judicial reforms and accountability demanded by the EU are carried out.
That is why the recently resurrected bill on the transparency of foreign influence is more than anything a product of the local struggle in Georgia for political power, commented “Free Europe”. And his return heralds a new bout of internal political strife, sharper pressure on government opponents and even greater stress on Tbilisi's increasingly fragile relations with its Western partners, the publication writes.
„The government wants to stay in power, so they increased the silencing of critical voices, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They label journalists as enemies of the people, that's how they want the public to see us,” said journalist Lika Zakashvili, co-founder of the independent online publication “Publica”, who was among the protesters both this week and last year.
Russia, for its part, claims it wants “stability and predictability” in Georgia, but denies pressuring her neighbor to introduce the law. The Kremlin says it is absurd for its opponents to portray it as a Russian project. Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, indicated that the situation in Georgia was being used to “provoke anti-Russian sentiments” and that the Kremlin is closely monitoring developments in the country, quoted “Swissinfo”.
The Way of Georgia
Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people that until 1991 was ruled by Moscow as part of the Soviet Union, is at a crossroads in its international relations.
Kremlin officials are now deeply unpopular with the Georgian population because of their support for the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, over which Russia fought and won a brief war with Georgia in 2008.
Although the government in Tbilisi has declared itself pro-Western, it has refused to impose sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine, instead restoring direct transport links with Russia, angering pro-Ukrainian Georgian society, writes “Swissinfo”.
The latest protests underscore a deepening divide in the already polarized country, pitting the ruling party against the opposition, much of civil society and the country's president.
Internationally, Georgia occupies a strategic position next to Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan in a region crisscrossed by oil and gas pipelines and bordering the Black Sea. Like Ukraine, it found itself sandwiched between Russia and the West after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was even at war with Moscow, although the fighting lasted only five days.
Both Georgia and Ukraine have been promised eventual NATO membership. The West is watching to see if Tbilisi will return to Moscow's orbit or reject Russian influence – and whether this can be done without causing further conflict.
The "Georgian Dream" party, which has been in power for nearly 12 years, insists on the need for balanced relations between the East and the West. Critics, however, note that the formation's founder, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, amassed his fortune in Russia and has cultivated friendly ties with the Kremlin, unlike previous Georgian governments. Therefore, Brussels' calls for “de-oligarchization“ of the country, largely interpreted as limiting Ivanishvili's power, remain unheard, notes "Swissinfo".