17/04/2024 Updated yesterday at 22:46|Source: ČTK
Protests broke out in Georgia once morest a draft controversial law (source: Reuters)
The new law on foreign influence passed the first reading in the Georgian parliament. Legislators debated it for almost twelve hours and there were also fights. Critics compare the draft to a similar Russian law, which serves the Kremlin to silence the opposition and independent media. Demonstrations once morest the proposal of the ruling Georgian Dream party took place in front of the parliament building on Wednesday as well. According to EU officials, the legislation will negatively affect the country’s path to EU membership.
The fate of the disputed law is seen as a test of whether Georgia, three decades following the collapse of the Soviet Union, intends to follow the path of integration with the West, or whether it wants to get closer to Russia, Reuters writes.
83 out of 150 deputies raised their hands for the proposal, opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote. The proposal must go through a total of three readings in the parliament, following which it will likely be subject to a fourth vote in order for lawmakers to override President Salome Zourabishvili’s announced veto.
If approved, the rule would require organizations in Georgia that receive more than twenty percent of their funding from abroad to register as “organizations carrying the interests of a foreign power.” Georgian Dream politicians say the law is aimed at transparency and aims to combat “pseudo-liberal values” pushed by foreigners, Reuters reports.
People took to the streets once more
Critics call the norm a “Russian law” and fear that it will serve to repress NGOs and independent media. Thousands of Georgians therefore protested in front of the parliament in recent days, the police intervened once morest them with tear gas and detained several people.
The demonstration was also held on Wednesday. Reinforced security forces were on the scene and water cannons were parked on Freedom Square regarding two hundred meters from the epicenter of the demonstration, the Russian news agency TASS reported. The AFP agency estimated the number of demonstrators at twenty thousand. From the seat of the parliament, people headed to the Prime Minister’s office. “If the law is adopted, it will put Georgia in line with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries where human rights are trampled. It will destroy Georgia’s path to Europe,” political scientist Giorgi Ruchadze told AP.
Controversial law raises passions in parliament and on Georgian streets (source: Reuters)
The word “agent” has disappeared from the standard
Georgians demonstrated once morest essentially the same law last year, and the Georgian Dream eventually withdrew the proposal from parliament. However, the party recently announced that it had dusted it off and then re-submitted it to parliament in a slightly amended form.
“Instead of the original term ‘agent under foreign influence’, the term ‘organization carrying the interests of a foreign power’ will be used.” All other parts of the bill remain unchanged,” pointed out Mamuka Mdinaradze, secretary of the ruling party and MP, according to Radio Free Europe / Radio Svoboda (RFE/RL).
According to the agencies, the spokesman of the Russian leader, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the law should not be called Russian, as other countries use a similar practice to protect once morest external influence. According to him, the situation in Georgia is apparently being used by external actors to “incite anti-Russian sentiments”. The Kremlin is monitoring the development, Peskov added.
The door to the EU is closing
In addition to a number of Georgians, Western countries also criticize the bill. The European Union’s diplomatic service said on Wednesday that the proposed norm is not in line with the EU’s fundamental norms and values, and its adoption would negatively affect Georgia’s progress towards EU membership. “The proposed law would limit the ability of civil society and media organizations to operate freely,” EU diplomacy said in a statement.
Last December, Georgia gained the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union. Tbilisi applied to join the EU in March 2022, together with Ukraine and Moldova. But the Union granted candidate status first to Ukraine and Moldova, saying Georgia must do more to fight corruption, increase the independence of the judiciary and reconcile polarized domestic party politics. At the same time, Georgian Dream maintained its rhetoric directed once morest civil society organizations, writes Reuters.
Georgian Dream has ruled the Caucasian country of five million people since 2012. Critics accuse the party of authoritarian tendencies and too close relations with Moscow. At the same time, Russia is very unpopular in Georgia due to its control of the Georgian separatist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where it has military garrisons.
At the same time, Georgian society is highly polarized, according to RFE/RL. According to polls, Georgian Dream remains the most popular party in the country, although its popularity has weakened since the last election in 2020. The next parliamentary elections should be held this October.