- Written by Reyhan Demitry
- BBC South Caucasus correspondent
For the past 10 days, thousands of Georgians, many in their late teens or early 20s, have brought traffic to a standstill in the capital, Tbilisi.
They are calling on the government to withdraw plans to introduce controversial legislation called the “Foreign Agents Law”, which many believe is being used by neighboring Russia to quash dissent. It claims to be inspired by authoritarian laws in the country.
On April 17, Parliament passed the bill on first reading. This is the first of three hurdles that must be overcome before it can be enacted.
“I'm here for the future of Europe,” says 23-year-old Gvantsa “Pertso” as she sits with friends next to the Georgian parliament, where the rally will meet.
She is one of several members of Georgia's Generation Z marching through Tbilisi with EU and Georgian flags draped over their shoulders, holding banners and shouting “No to Russian laws!”
Under a bill proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for the past 12 years, NGOs and independent media that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign donors would be registered as “entities with interests”. There is a need to. “Foreign Powers.”
They can also be monitored by the Ministry of Justice and forced to share sensitive information or face steep fines of up to 25,000 lari ($9,400, £7,500).
Protesters also feared the bill would be used to quash critical voices ahead of parliamentary elections later this year, as NGOs and civil society organizations are involved in election observation in Georgia. I am concerned that this may be the case.
It draws similarities to an authoritarian law that took effect in Russia in 2012 and has since been used by the Kremlin to marginalize voices dissenting from the Kremlin, including prominent cultural figures, media outlets and civil society groups. It has been pointed out.
Many also fear that such a law could put Georgia off the path to coveted EU membership. Nearly 80% of Georgians support EU membership, as shown in a National Democratic Institute poll.
Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023, but both Brussels and Washington now say the introduction of the foreign agency law will be detrimental to Georgia's European ambitions.
Many European leaders said the proposed law was in line with European norms, with European Council President Charles Michel saying the bill would “take Georgia further away from the EU, not closer.” and warns that it is “incompatible'' with Japan's values.
However, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has taken a firm stance.
He has accused NGOs of twice trying to start a revolution in Georgia, promoting “gay propaganda” and attacking the Georgian Orthodox Church.
He and his government say the bill is aimed at transparency and reject the idea that it goes against European values or that Russia is behind it.
Indeed, Georgian Dream has sought to distance itself from Russia over the bill, flatly rejecting any similarities to Russian law as “disinformation” and calling Russian messages regarding protests in Georgia inflammatory. He blames it.
Tamar Oniani, head of the NGO Young Lawyers Association of Georgia, is skeptical. She is protesting the bill, which she claims “suppresses civil society” and “serves Russia's interests.”
“That's why we're here,” she told the BBC from the sidelines of the protest. “I think this is a foreign policy issue for Georgia, because it would move Georgia from the EU to Russia.”
Anna Doridze of the opposition For the People party said the law was a “test of loyalty” to Russia for the Georgian Dream party, whose task was to “pass this law and indirectly silence critics. “maintaining moderate authoritarianism by doing so.''
Noting that similar laws have been passed in neighboring Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, Ms Dolidze said: “Russia's so-called pro-Russian neighbors have been urged to pass this law as a means of creating division with Europe.” ”
In Kyrgyzstan, the NGO Open Society Foundations recently announced that it would end its 30-year presence in the country following the introduction of the Foreign Agents Bill. The new law risks having an “overwhelming negative impact on civil society, human rights activists and the media in Kyrgyzstan,” the NGO said in a statement.
Russia, on the other hand, has suppressed suspicions of interference.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the protests against the Georgian government's bill were caused by foreign forces wanting to stir up anti-Russian sentiment in the country, but denied that Russia was involved in the bill.
Analysts disagree. Sopo Geraba, a disinformation expert at the Atlantic Council Digital Forensic Institute, said pro-Kremlin Facebook pages were spreading claims that the West was behind the protests, and that the U.S. was in Georgia ahead of the protests. He said they were spreading the theory that they were planning a coup. Parliamentary elections in October.
“At least five pages that I'm currently looking at have sponsored posts that claim there's a secret plot to overthrow the government,” Geraba said.
Protesters in Tbilisi have little doubt that this is a crossroads and continue to take to the streets to vent their anger against the government. Protests are now a daily sight in Tbilisi and show little sign of slowing down.
“Nine out of 10 passers-by will say that our destination is Europe,” said student Andrija Ciridze. “I don't know why [government officials] This is what we are doing. ”
Georgia's President Salome Zurabichvili, who is at loggerheads with the government, told the BBC that questions remained about who was behind pushing for the law to be adopted again.
“Was this decision taken in Georgia or just across the border, in Moscow?” she asked.
“That’s the main question about transparency that Georgians want.”
