Georgia Passes Divisive 'Foreign Influence' Bill Amid Mass Protests

Facts

• Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Georgia’s capital Tbilisi after the country's parliament passed a divisive 'foreign influence' bill on Tuesday. Thirteen protesters were reportedly arrested.¹
• Passed in its third and final reading by 84 votes to 30, the law requires independent media and non-governmental organizations to register as entities 'bearing the interests of a foreign power' if their funding is more than 20% foreign.²
• Critics in the US and the EU, as well as pro-EU voices in the country, see the law — compared to a similar law passed in Russia in 2012 — as an attempt to silence critics and draw Georgia back into the Kremlin's sphere of influence.³
• Before the bill's passing, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claimed to lawmakers that Georgia would lose its sovereignty and 'easily share the fate of Ukraine,' while critics fear the law may harm Georgia's EU entry efforts.²
• Divisions not only spilled onto the streets — with the 13 arrests made after some protesters clashed with police — but also into the country's parliament, where members of parliaments had to be separated by security forces after a skirmish broke out.⁴
• Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili, an opponent of Kobakhidze, reportedly vowed to veto the bill, but the ruling Georgian Dream party has enough votes to overrule her veto and the law is still expected to pass.²

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²BBC News, ³Guardian and ⁴Associated Press.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Guardian. The passing of this anti-democratic bill looks to align Georgia with Russia, defying the will of the people who seek to integrate with Europe and break away from the malign influence of Moscow. If Georgia wants to make an enemy of the West, while launching further crackdowns on its own people, the West will have to consider sanctions.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Messenger. As can be seen by the presence of EU officials giving speeches in the streets of Tsibili during protests, Western countries are once again meddling in the internal politics of Georgia as they have done elsewhere. This further underscores why such a foreign agents bill is necessary.

Predictions