Georgia’s controversial “foreign agent” bill has become law after weeks of protests

The speaker of Georgia’s parliament said he signed a controversial measure into law on Monday Weeks of protests by critics – At least 20 of them have been arrested, including two US citizens – who say it will limit media freedom and jeopardize the country’s chances of joining the European Union.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Zourabishvili made his decision after the legislature, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party, nullified President Salome Zourabishvili’s attempt to veto the bill.

The measure, approved by lawmakers last month, requires media outlets, NGOs and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

Zurabishvili, who has become increasingly at odds with the ruling party, opposed the bill, accusing the Georgian Dream Party of endangering Georgia’s future and “obstructing the path toward becoming a full member of the free and democratic world.”

The government says the law is necessary to stop what it sees as harmful foreign actors trying to destabilize the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people. Many journalists and activists say its real goal is to stigmatize them and restrict debate before parliamentary elections scheduled for October.

Opponents denounced it and described it as “Russian law“Because it is similar to actions taken by the Kremlin to suppress independent news media, non-profit organizations and activists. They say this action may be motivated by Moscow to thwart Georgia’s chances of further integration with the West.

last year, Zurabishvili told CBS: 60 minutes That Russia was waging a “hybrid war” against Georgia, using online and televised disinformation campaigns.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he said he was doing so, among other things, to protect Russians living there. Zurabishvili said she feared he would launch a similar campaign in Georgia, which has become home to about 100,000 Russians since the start of the war in Ukraine.

“It is very worrying when you have in your own country people who speak the enemy’s language and think they are in their own country,” she said. 60 minutes.

President Zurabishvili has no executive power in Georgia. This falls on the shoulders of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who dismissed criticism of the new law on Monday as “unnecessary sentiments that have only an artificial basis.”

“Now the law has already entered into force and we all have to act practically, with a calm mind and put aside unnecessary emotions,” he said.

Over the weekend, the opposition United National Movement said a mob of masked men attacked its central offices in Tbilisi, smashing windows and damaging property. She claimed that the attackers were linked to the ruling party. The Ministry of Interior opened an investigation into the damage to the property.

The legislation is almost identical to a measure that the ruling party was pressured to withdraw last year after massive street protests. Renewed demonstrations have swept Georgia again as the new bill reaches Parliament this time. The demonstrators clashed with the police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.

After signing the bill, Babuashvili reiterated that its main goal is to “increase the resistance of Georgia’s political, economic and social systems to external interference.”

“If NGOs and media want to participate in the decision-making process and influence the lives of the Georgian people with funding from foreign governments, they must meet a minimum level of transparency – the public must know who is behind each actor.” He said.

Babuashvili said that once the new law is published on Tuesday, the Ministry of Justice will have 60 days to complete the necessary formal procedures. Those affected by the law must then register and declare their funds for the past year.

The Civil Society Foundation of Georgia, a non-governmental group, said on Thursday that it was preparing to challenge the legislation before the Constitutional Court of Georgia.

The EU’s foreign policy arm said the adoption of the law “negatively affects Georgia’s progress on the EU path.”

The EU offered Georgia candidate state status in December, while making clear that Tbilisi needed to implement key policy recommendations for its bid for EU membership to advance.

After the bill was passed last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that travel sanctions would be imposed on officials “responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia.” He expressed his hope that the Georgian government would reverse course and “take steps to advance the democratic and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of its country.”

The United National Movement describes the law as part of Georgian Dream’s efforts to draw the country into Russia’s sphere of influence – a claim the ruling party angrily rejects. Georgian Dream was founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a former prime minister and billionaire who made his fortune in Russia.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense since Georgia’s independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In 2008, Russia fought a short war with Georgia, which made an unsuccessful attempt to regain control of the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Moscow then recognized South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states and strengthened its military presence there. Most of the world considers both regions to be part of Georgia.

Tbilisi severed diplomatic relations with Moscow, and the status of the two regions remains a major source of concern even as relations between Russia and Georgia have improved in recent years.