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30-04-2024
TBILISI: Thousands of Georgians marched through the capital, Tbilisi, on Sunday, as protests built against a bill on “foreign agents” that the country’s opposition and Western countries have said is authoritarian and Russian-inspired.
Georgia’s parliament said it would hold the bill’s second reading on Tuesday, with opposition parties and civil society groups calling for mass protests against its expected passage.
If passed, the draft law would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” or face fines.
Protester Nika Shurgaia said he feared many non-government organizations would be shuttered because of what he called “the Russian law”. This label has been adopted by the opposition to compare the bill to a law used to crush dissent in Russia.
“There are hundreds of such NGOs who have done so much good for Georgia and now they face being stigmatized and possibly shut down,” Shurgaia said.
The EU and Western countries have warned that the bill could halt Georgia’s integration with the EU, which granted Georgia candidate status in December
The bill must pass three readings in parliament to become law, as well as overcome a veto by Georgia’s figurehead president, who opposes it.
Groups opposed to the bill have protested nightly outside parliament for over a week, since the legislature, which is controlled by the Georgian Dream ruling party, approved its first reading.
Thousands of student demonstrators have blocked Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue, facing off against riot police.
Opponents of the bill who called the mass protests on Sunday have also called for protests against its second reading on Tuesday. The government has called a demonstration in support of the bill for Monday.
In last year, While Ukraine’s hopes of beginning membership talks will take centre-stage at this week’s European Union summit, another potential member, Georgia, will also be seeking progress towards eventual entry to the coveted club.
Surveys show that up to 90% of Georgia’s 3.7 million people support EU accession, and blue and yellow European flags are ubiquitous in the capital Tbilisi, fluttering from government buildings, businesses and private homes.
For Giorgi Popiashvili, a 40-year old art director, Georgia’s future clearly lies with Europe, not Russia, which effectively ruled the South Caucasus country for 200 years until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
“That’s probably my dream, to see Georgia as a part of the European family,” he told Media in Tbilisi. “We also love freedom… We’ve been fighting for our freedom for centuries.”
Such enthusiasm, however, will not be enough to secure candidate status for Georgia. The ruling Georgian Dream party officially supports EU and NATO membership, but its track record on reforms has raised questions over how serious it is.
The government’s conciliatory stance towards Russia has also irked Brussels.
“In the case of Georgia, we have a government that is seemingly more interested in doing business with Russia than advancing on the EU path,” said a senior EU official involved in talks with countries which want to join.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Georgia had gone backwards on some key reforms, although the EU did not want to alienate a country that might otherwise fall back under Moscow’s sway.
“So the EU’s next move is about finding a balance…” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
