ON the streets of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, it’s not unusual these days to hear the frequent refrain of the European Union (EU) anthem Ode To…
TOPSHOT - Protesters wave Georgian national and European flags during a demonstration outside the parliament building as they protest against a draft bill on"foreign influence" in Tbilisi on April 17, 2024. Thousands rallied in Georgia on
The controversial legislation proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, critics contend, mirrors a repressive Russian law on “foreign agents” that has been used against independent news media and groups seen as being at odds with the Kremlin. And again last week, he repeated his assertion that the law “is incompatible with the European Union’s values”.
To begin with, under the terms of the proposed law, organisations that receive 20% or more of their funding from overseas will have to register as agents of foreign influence and adhere to tight administrative rules, or else face substantial fines. Humanitarian organisations, as well as campaign groups and corruption watchdogs, could all face being branded with the label.
In defending the legislation – which has passed an initial round of voting in parliament but has yet to be adopted as law – Georgian Dream insist it is modelled on a US law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act and says the legislation is needed to promote transparency and combat “pseudo-liberal values” imposed by foreigners.
Speaking at the rally, opposition member of parliament Aleksandre Elisashvili condemned politicians who voted for the bill as “traitors” and said the rest of Georgia would show them that “people are power, and not the traitor government”. “The ruling party has also passed other laws, one abolishing gender quotas – which is definitely in breach of the conditions Georgia received for its candidacy. And then another law against anti-rights. This is again in breach of European values. This is again active non-compliance … and these initiations come from the Georgian Dream party,” Akhvlediani explained in an interview with the monthly EU politics, policy and culture magazine, The Parliament.
The Kremlin says it is absurd for opponents of the bill to portray it as a Russian project. Its spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said last week that the situation in Georgia was being used to “provoke anti-Russian sentiments” and that the Kremlin was closely watching developments. Back then at the height of that short war lasting a few weeks which I covered as a reporter, I remember accompanying other journalists into the disputed town of Gori. Known as the birthplace of Joseph Stalin, the town had then become one of the key flashpoints between Russian and Georgian troops.
Overall, the impression was of an antiquated army whose vehicles, weapons and appearance had changed little since my first encounter with Red Army conscripts in Afghanistan 25 years earlier. Today of course, the Russian Army is an altogether different force from those times back in 2008; its growth and modernisation all too evident in its war with Ukraine.
But equally too, many Georgians are afraid of being dragged into a war with Russia, an argument Georgian Dream have exploited to undermine any opposition. “Passing this law is a question of survival for the Georgian Dream … The party need a constitutional majority in the upcoming elections, but according to all the polls, it is not on their cards,” was how Kornely Kakachia, professor of political science at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University summed it up, speaking to the Financial Times last week as the protests in Tbilisi rumbled on.
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