On Wednesday, the Georgian parliament approved the controversial bill on foreign influence in the first reading. This was reported by Reuters and AFP. In previous days, thousands of people protested in Tbilisi once morest the norm, which is promoted by the ruling Georgian Dream party. Opponents of the law compare the draft to a similar Russian law, which served the Kremlin to disperse the opposition and silence independent media. Demonstrations are also called for Wednesday.
Tbilisi
15:44 April 17, 2024 Share on Facebook
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Georgia Foreign Influence Bill Sparks Widespread Protests | Photo: Irakli Gedenidze | Source: Reuters
83 out of 150 deputies voted for the proposal, opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote. The proposal must go through a total of three readings in the parliament, and then it will likely face a fourth vote in order for lawmakers to override President Salome Zurabishvili’s announced veto, Reuters reported earlier.
According to her, the fate of the law is seen as a test of whether, three decades following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia intends to follow the path of integration with the West, or whether it wants to get closer to Russia.
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If approved, the rule would require organizations in Georgia that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign interest organizations.”
Politicians from the Georgian Dream claim that the goal of the law is transparency and the fight once morest “pseudo-liberal values” pushed by foreigners, writes Reuters. Critics call the norm a “Russian law” and fear that it will serve to repress NGOs and independent media.
That is why thousands of Georgians protested in front of the parliament in recent days, the police intervened once morest them with tear gas. She detained several people. 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.
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“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,” ruling party secretary and MP Mamuka Mdinaradze said earlier, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Svoboda (RFE/RL).
Foreign reaction
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to agencies, 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.
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 declaration.
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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 EU granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova first, 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, Reuters wrote earlier.
The Georgian dream, which has ruled the Caucasian country of five million people since 2012, is accused by its critics of authoritarian tendencies and too close to Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia is widely unpopular in Georgia because of 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 opinion 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.
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