Georgia: Third Reading of 'Foreign Agents' Bill Met with Further Protests

Facts

• Thousands of Georgians protested the government's 'foreign agents' bill in Tbilisi on Sunday, with many planning to subsequently stay outside parliament overnight to prevent lawmakers from attending the third reading on Monday.¹
• Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze proposed the bill last year, which would require that NGOs receiving more than 20% of their financial support from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence or face hefty fines.²
• The demonstrators fear that the approval of the law could jeopardize the country's aspiration to become an EU member. Authorities warned that they would apprehend anybody who tried to block parliament.³
• Young Georgians have protested persistently for weeks, displaying a determination to prevent the measure from being enacted. Some students at Tblisi universities vowed not to attend classes on Monday, in protest against the bill.⁴
• Georgia has worked for years to strengthen relations with the West. However, the ruling Georgian Dream party has been accused of drawing closer to Russia, with the proposed bill raising the ire of Washington, Brussels, and the UN.⁵
• Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia's pro-EU president who disagrees with the government's plans, cautioned protesters not to provoke authorities, to remain vigilant, and not to allow this to escalate into violence.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²News24, ³Kyiv Post, ⁴MSN, ⁵France 24 and ⁶Hürriyet Daily News.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. Younger generations of Georgians are currently mobilizing in the streets to oppose this potential pro-Russian law. This legislation threatens Georgia's progress toward EU integration by suppressing opposition and freedom of speech through targeted actions against NGOs that receive foreign funding. Georgia, trapped between its Soviet past and European future, finally has a chance to move forward. This legislation must not be enacted.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Moscow Times. There is no similarity between the Russian Foreign Agents Act of 2012 and the Foreign Influence Bill of the Georgian Dream Party. Georgian Dream has no intention of making it illegal for NGOs to receive foreign funding. Instead, the government actively supports foreign financing for its over 25K NGOs, with 90% of them receiving funds from external sources. Georgian citizens, however, have a right to know who finances these partisan NGOs and what ideas they advocate.

Predictions