After weeks of protests and political wrangling, Georgia’s parliament approved legislation to combat perceived foreign influence in the small South Caucasus nation.
Once enacted, the legislation will require foreign-funded entities to register as “organizations pursuing foreign interests” or face financial penalties.
“The bill has been approved,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said after the May 14 vote, in which lawmakers endorsed a final reading of the legislation.
Eighty-four members of parliament voted in favor of the so-called “foreign agents” law, while 30 voted against it.
Proponents of the law say it is needed to safeguard the country from malign foreign influences operating under the guise of “civil society.”
Opponents, however, fear the law will stifle free speech and expression and impede Georgia’s chances of joining the European Union (EU).
Critics derisively call it “the Russian law,” comparing it to legislation ostensibly used by Moscow to suppress political dissent.
The Kremlin denied any association with the Georgian law or its recent ratification by parliament.
“This is an internal matter for Georgia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said after the parliamentary vote.
West Rebukes Law
In the run-up to the vote, several Western countries—including the United States, the UK, France, and Germany—urged Georgia to drop the legislation.After the vote, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the United States was “deeply troubled” by what she described as the “Kremlin-style” law.
“If this legislation passes, this will compel us to fundamentally reassess our relationship with Georgia,” she told reporters on May 14.
The next day, Brussels also called on Georgia to scrap the law, saying it threatened to derail the country’s hope of eventually joining the EU.
“Adoption of this law negatively impacts Georgia’s progress on the EU path,” Josep Borrell, the European bloc’s foreign policy chief, said in a statement.
Brussels granted Georgia candidate status last December.
“The choice on the way forward is in Georgia’s hands,” Mr. Borrell said. “We urge the Georgian authorities to withdraw the law.”
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, a vocal critic of the law, has threatened to veto the legislation in line with her constitutional prerogative.
However, the law’s supporters, which include the ruling Georgian Dream party, have vowed to override the president’s veto in yet another parliamentary vote.
Ruling Party Says Law Combats ‘Pseudo-Liberal Values’
Last year, a similar effort by the ruling party to pass the bill was abandoned after several days of demonstrations in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital.In April, Georgian Dream and its allies reintroduced the legislation, triggering a fresh round of protests by the bill’s opponents.
According to the ruling party, the law is needed to preserve Georgia’s national sovereignty and combat “pseudo-liberal values” imposed by foreign entities.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien has warned that Washington could impose financial and travel restrictions on Georgia if the text of the legislation remains as it is.
“If the law goes forward without conforming to EU norms, and this kind of rhetoric ... against the U.S. and other partners continue, I think the [U.S.–Georgia] relationship is at risk,” he said during a visit to Tbilisi this week, adding that all U.S. assistance to Georgia would come under review if the country’s leadership persisted in viewing the United States as an adversary.
Earlier this month, Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili condemned what he described as an undue Western influence on the country.
Addressing supporters, Mr. Ivanishvili claimed that the West’s “global war party” was attempting to push Georgia into another conflict with Russia.
In 2008, Russia won a brief war with Georgia—initiated by the latter—over the small but strategically important regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Russia Responds
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova addressed Western criticisms of the law, describing Ms. Jean-Pierre’s statements as “an open threat.”“Everyone understands why there is such hysteria in the West, because now it will be seen what they are financing, and how they are destroying the sovereignty of various states,” Ms. Zakharova said in remarks to the Russian press on May 15.
“For months, the West has been browbeating Georgia about what it should—or should not—do regarding its own legislation. ... This is absolute interference by other countries in Georgia’s internal politics.”
Russian officials also point out that many of the law’s Western critics have adopted almost identical “foreign agents” legislation.
These include Washington’s own Foreign Agents Registration Act, which has remained in effect since 1938.
Renewed Protests
Demonstrations against the Georgian law began in mid-April when parliament approved the first reading of the draft legislation.Late last month, the Georgian government staged a counter-protest in support of the law, which reportedly drew tens of thousands of people.
On May 1, the parliament approved a second reading of the law, sparking a fresh round of protests in which demonstrators clashed with police.
After the May 14 parliamentary vote, protesters again returned to the streets, converging on central Tbilisi and bringing traffic to a standstill.
The protests were organized by the bill’s domestic opponents, which include a coalition of opposition parties, civil society groups, and local celebrities.
Protester Laliko, a university student who declined to give her last name, told Reuters that the demonstrations were aimed at securing “the European future [Georgians] deserve.”
