Georgia: Sheer anger at the government

With a law on “foreign agents”, the government in Georgia is risking losing its EU candidate status once and for all – and turning the population against it. Russia could use an escalation.

Tear gas, water cannons, emergency services with helmets and protective shields pushing the demonstrators out of parliament. Such images have been seen again and again in recent years from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. But now the anger seems to reach far into the population. Even well-known soccer players were critical.

The reason for this is the law on “agents of foreign influence”, which the governing party “Georgian Dream” (GT) passed on Tuesday in the first reading through parliament. It affects organizations and media that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. They should register with the Ministry of Justice in the future. The government says it’s for transparency and is modeled after a law in the US. However, the EU, the USA, the opposition and civil society unanimously refer to a law that was passed in Russia in 2012.

Posters that appeared in Tbilisi before the parliamentary vote indicated that the law was intended to stigmatize government critics. They showed members of the opposition under the inscription “spies” and “traitors”. The head of the ruling party “Georgian Dream”, Irakli Kobachidze, describes the members of the largest opposition party, the United National Movement, as “spies” and NGOs as “extremist organizations”.

“We will not be fooled””

“This law must be nipped in the bud,” says Lasha Bakradze, director of the Tbilisi Literary Museum. He himself is not affected by the law, he does not receive any funding from abroad and was still among the approximately 10,000 demonstrators on Rustaveli Boulevard in front of the parliament. “We know how the law is used in Russia. We won’t let the government fool us!”

Bakradze expects the protest to spread. This is also the assumption of the journalist Irakli Absandze, who stayed until midnight in front of the parliament building, where the police used tear gas on a massive scale. “It was already a colorful crowd on Tuesday. I think more will come. Everyone is ready for weeks of protests.”

Many said the situation reminded them of Ukraine in November 2013, when President Viktor Yanukovych finally rejected the EU Association Agreement at an EU summit in Vilnius. He sparked weeks of protests that turned violent, ultimately leading to his fleeing to Russia.

Voting only on “Russian version”

Opposition MP Katuna Samnidze explains what Bakradze means by “kidding”.. The leader of the liberal Republican Party describes the ruling party’s approach: Nine radical deputies presented a draft – basically a copy of the Russian law. After massive criticism, they presented a second version which, according to the ruling party, had been transcribed “word for word” from the FARA lobbying law in the USA, which Samnidze says is not correct.

Both drafts were registered for parliamentary consideration. Then the first version was discussed in the plenary session on Tuesday. Samnidze and other members of the opposition took the opportunity to use the “filibuster”, a method known from the USA, to delay a vote by making long speeches. But 40 minutes before the end of the session, the debate was broken off and only the first, “Russian” version was put to the vote. It was accepted by a vote of 76 to 13.

When, shortly after the vote, the police used violence against the peaceful demonstrators in front of the doors of the parliament, they and other MPs tried to confront the speaker of the parliament in his office. But, according to Samnidze, he withdrew from the public.

“Georgia’s future lies in Europe”

Ruling party leader Kobachidze announced that the law would now be sent to the “Venice Commission” of the Council of Europe. The panel of experts examines laws for the application of constitutional and democratic principles. Then the second and third readings would follow in Parliament. According to Kobachidze, this will take two to three months.

After that, President Salome Zurabischwili would have to sign the law. However, she announced her veto. Addressing the demonstrators, she said: “I stand with you because today you represent the free Georgia. The Georgia that sees its future in Europe.” Zurabishvili referred to the Georgian constitution, in which Georgia’s euro-transatlantic orientation is anchored. The law on “foreign agents” runs counter to this.

The presidential veto can be overruled by the majority of the governing party in parliament. What is remarkable, however, is that Zurabishvili’s partisanship was once nominated by the man behind the ruling party: the extremely wealthy businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili. In 2012 he ensured the replacement of the “United National Movement” of then President Mikhail Saakashvili, also with the help of lobbyists and advisers from the USA.

The hope at the time was that he would not follow Saakashvili’s authoritarian course and keep his promise to improve the lives of socially disadvantaged people. In fact, the government implemented reforms, for example in the health sector, which, like all other areas, had been completely liberalized in previous years.

Chance of EU candidate status decreases

The government also promises to apply for candidate status with the EU in 2024, which it is officially sticking to. But she has long since strayed from the democratic and pro-European course – out of incompetence and the will to retain power, also at the price that Georgia loses the chance of EU candidate status. It is increasingly openly refusing to implement EU reform recommendations, for example in electoral law and the judiciary.

In addition, government officials are aggressively targeting the US and EU, on whose financial support the country depends to a large extent. Without any evidence, she claims that the West wants to push Georgia into war with Russia. At the end of the year, the EU will probably have little choice but to continue postponing the granting of candidate status.

The ruling party’s actions raise all the more questions as they continue to do well in the polls. The opposition is still not offering the population a trustworthy alternative, since the “United National Movement” has still not renounced its former leader Saakashvili and the other parties are also getting too few voters.

prevent escalation

What, however, as polls also show, is deeply anchored in the population: the orientation towards Europe and the rejection of the Russian leadership around President Vladimir Putin. That is why the Georgian opposition and civil society struck a chord when they referred to the development of the “foreign agent” law in Russia. Putin has gradually tightened this up so that it can be used more and more as a means of repression against critics. This also threatens in Georgia.

In addition, there is a foreign policy that is being criticized more and more loudly as being obedient to Russia. The government is refusing sanctions against Russia and turning away Russian opposition figures at the border. It is less likely that businessman Ivanishvili wanted to hand his country over to Putin than that the government faces enormous potential for pressure from its northern neighbor, which occupies two breakaway territories of Georgia, and can also exercise massive economic coercion. The government has no strategically sophisticated foreign policy to counter this.

The vote on the “Russian law” caused anger to boil over among many. On Tuesday, the deputies in parliament shouted “Russebi” – “You are Russians”. The last demonstrators only left the square at 5 a.m., many want to come to another protest.

In recent years, the protests have ended peacefully, but the situation is tense in view of the war against Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Russians have come to the country where they can enter without a visa. An escalation could be used by Putin as an opportunity, although there have been few signs of it so far.