Lawmakers from Georgia’s ruling party have reintroduced draft legislation aimed at combatting perceived foreign influence in the South Caucasus nation.
After a heated debate on April 15, the parliament’s legal committee approved a “foreign agents” bill, critics of which—both domestic and foreign—claim is “inspired” by Moscow.
On April 16, the assembly began debating the first reading of the proposed legislation, sparking a second day of demonstrations in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital.
If enacted, the law would require organizations that accept funding from overseas to register as “foreign agents” or face financial penalties.
Several Western countries—including the United States, Britain, and Germany—have urged Georgia not to adopt the legislation.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says the law is needed to protect the country from malign foreign influence operating under the guise of “civil society.”
Ruling party officials also say the law is needed to combat “pseudo-liberal values” imposed by foreign entities.
“This law defends democracy in our country from any foreign interference,” Archil Talakvadze, a top Georgian Dream lawmaker, said before parliament on April 16.
The bill’s critics, for their part, call it the “Russian law,” comparing it to legislation ostensibly used by the Kremlin to stifle political dissent.
They also fear the bill’s adoption would hinder Georgia’s chances of eventually joining the European Union (EU).
Last week, EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski said the bill was “incompatible with EU norms and values” and risked derailing Georgia’s membership bid.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status last December.
But it has conditioned the launch of accession talks on Georgia’s speedy adoption of a raft of “reforms” demanded by Brussels.
Last year, a similar effort by the ruling party to pass the controversial bill was scrapped after several days of demonstrations in Tbilisi.
At the time, Russia’s foreign ministry alleged that the protests were being orchestrated from abroad, comparing them to Ukraine’s 2014 “Maidan Revolution.”
According to Moscow, the 2014 uprising in Kyiv, which swept Ukraine’s pro-Russia president from power, was a Western-backed “coup” against an elected leader.
Renewed Protests
Demonstrations also erupted this time around, with thousands of Georgians hitting the streets of Tbilisi to protest the “Russian-inspired” draft legislation.On April 15, an estimated 5,000 demonstrators converged on the parliament building to demand that the bill be withdrawn.
“I hope we push hard enough to get this law out of the parliament,” Tornike, a 24-year-old protester, told Reuters.
“If they don’t, I think we have to push hard enough to get rid of this government,” he added.
“Russians! Russians!” protesters yelled at riot police who guarded the approaches to the parliament building.
By the end of the day, 14 people had been detained for public disorder, while a police officer had been treated for injuries, Georgia’s interior ministry said.
Nevertheless, on April 16, hundreds of protesters returned to the area outside the parliament building amid calls for continued demonstrations.
President Salome Zourabichvili, a frequent critic of the ruling party, expressed support for the demonstrators.
“Georgia will not surrender to re-Sovietization!” she said in a social-media post.
In Georgia, the post of president is largely ceremonial.
Executive power resides in the post of prime minister, which is currently held by Irakli Kobakhidze, a leading member of the ruling party.
A former Soviet republic, Georgia is slated to hold elections later this year.
While polls suggest that Georgian Dream remains the most popular party, it has lost ground since 2020, when it clinched the premiership by a narrow majority.
Last October, Georgia’s State Security Service accused the United States of funding training programs in Georgia to teach activists how to foment civil unrest.
“Their goal was to prepare and plan revolutionary activities,” Mr. Kobakhidze, the prime minister, told reporters at the time.
The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi called the claim “false” and “unwarranted,” while the U.S. State Department said Washington’s “only involvement” in Georgia was for “humanitarian and pro-democracy purposes.”
‘Geopolitical Choice’
Although the Georgian Dream supports the country’s eventual membership in the EU, it also maintains good relations with Russia.Since Moscow invaded eastern Ukraine more than two years ago, Georgia–which shares a border with Russia–has pursued a relatively neutral course.
While Tbilisi has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has declined to join Western-led sanctions on Russia.
In 2008, Russia fought–and won–a brief war with Georgia over the small but strategically important regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Tbilisi and most Western capitals still view the two regions as part of Georgia.
Moscow, meanwhile, recognizes both territories as “independent republics.”
Speaking to Reuters on April 15, opposition lawmaker Khatia Dekanoidze said the controversy over the proposed legislation was about “geopolitical choice.”
“It’s not about the law,” she asserted. “It’s about whether Georgia is going to the European Union or whether Georgia is going to Russia.”
