The adoption of an analogue of the Russian law on foreign agents by the Georgian authorities on March 7 caused mass protests in the country, the most numerous took place in Tbilisi near the parliament building. The protesters faced violent opposition from the security forces, who sprayed tear gas into the crowd and turned on water cannons. The opposition and the president of Georgia spoke out against the law, while at the same time, the majority of the deputies voted for the adoption of the law, and they will be able to overcome the presidential veto. Why such a division and what kind of law was adopted in Georgia, political scientist Gela Vasadze told The Insider.
What kind of law was adopted in Georgia
The next amendments to the legislation were initiated by the deputies of the Power of the People movement, a satellite of the Georgian Dream party in power. Initially, it was said about the adoption of two bills. One of them actually duplicates the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). In the United States, representatives of foreign governments, political parties that promote the interests of their "principals" must register as foreign agents.
The second Georgian bill provides for the creation of a register of "agents of foreign influence", and this is actually a duplicate of what was adopted in the Russian Federation to prosecute people and organizations objectionable to the authorities. And it was he who was adopted in the first reading by the Georgian deputies on March 7.
According to the law, "agents" should be recognized non-profit organizations and the media, more than 20% of the annual income of which is foreign funding. The exception is organizations founded by administrative bodies, as well as sports federations. Also, NGOs and the media must submit an annual financial declaration. For violation, they face a fine of about 25 thousand lari (about $9.5 thousand).
The Russian authorities and propagandists often compare the repressive methods in the Russian Federation with the FARA law, forgetting to mention that in Russia the norms of the law are completely different, and they apply them in relation to their own citizens. The Georgian authorities, who are pushing for changes to the legislation, similarly emphasize that there is no need to protest, saying that the law duplicates the American one, does not oppress anyone and does not affect anyone's interests. However, they voted for the Russian repressive counterpart. According to political scientist Gela Vasadze, two bills were introduced to create confusion.
The formal leader of the Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze, says that the bill is aimed only at the financial transparency of non-governmental organizations and the media. But there is no point in the law, except for the persecution of objectionable people, since the tax service of Georgia has all the publicly available information about each organization, and the National Communications Commission has data on the finances of the media.
And without the “foreign agency” law, the authorities have all the information about the finances of each organization and the media
“This law has nothing to do with financial monitoring of non-governmental organizations and the media,” says Vasadze. — Tools for such monitoring have existed for a long time and provide absolute transparency. The law is directed against fifteen major non-governmental organizations and opposition media, and in general the idea of labeling them is rather stupid, because receiving grants from Western institutions has always been an honor in Georgia and there is nothing shameful about it. The very fact of being called a “foreign agent” is a challenge to society and partners.
Yes, now only the law on non-governmental organizations, yes, now this law does not provide for the persecution of individuals, but we remember how it began in Russia. This is what I call an oligarchic autocracy and this is its logical development.”
Who is behind the lobbying of the law
The registration of the draft law was preceded by a campaign to discredit independent civil society organizations that openly declared their retreat from the principles of democracy in Georgia. Leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party have accused non-profit organizations of undermining peace and stability and conspiring to drag Georgia into war with Russia.
The introduction of the draft law on “foreign influence” initiated the Power of the People movement, which is actually an offshoot of the Georgian Dream party, created and controlled by former Georgian Prime Minister, Russian businessman and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. The business interests of the latter are closely connected with Russia, and Ivanishvili also actively advocates the restoration of cultural and trade ties between Georgia and Russia. He publicly advocates the restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia, but, according to him, it should not interfere with friendly relations with Russia. Russian business Ivanishvili urgently sold before the elections in 2012, Saakashvili explained the successful sale in such a short time with the help of the Kremlin and its contribution to Ivanishvili's election campaign. Also, according to unofficial data, Ivanishvili owns 1% of Gazprom's shares.
According to Vasadze, one of the reasons for the adoption of the law could be Ivanishvili's response to the European Parliament's call for the European Commission to impose sanctions against him "due to the deteriorating health of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the inadequate response of the Georgian authorities." Also in October 2022, Kiev imposed sanctions against Ivanishvili’s relatives.
Recall that Ivanishvili's opponent, Mikheil Saakashvili, is serving a six-year prison term in his homeland on charges of abuse of power. Saakashvili claims that he was poisoned and his state of health is assessed as serious. Videos recently released by CNN from a hospital room confirm that the politician is not in good health.
“The Power of the People” is the same “Georgian Dream”, which was specially singled out to make these both pro-Western and pro-Russian statements,” says Vasadze. – I have the impression that the West is slowly imposing sanctions against the leaders of the Georgian Dream, and this may well be a response to these soft sanctions so far. This power defiantly shows that they can do this and no one can do anything to them, and it shows both the society and international partners. The US Embassy has already called March 7 a black day for Georgian democracy. I rarely refer to embassies, but this phrase explains a lot.
What the Georgian Dream is doing is in the interests of Russia, and the fact that now not only tear gas, but also water cannons have been used against peaceful demonstrators … If they are on the “Gavrilov Night” <actions against the visit of Russian deputy Sergei Gavrilov, who in the chair of the Speaker of Parliament – The Insider> staged provocations and then began to use all this, but now they have already come out against peaceful demonstrators. They demonstrate by this that they do not care, and that they are so strong that they can do whatever they want. It's a definite message."
Ivanishvili himself did not speak publicly about the law. However, his protégé, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, also spoke out and said that the law has only one goal – to ensure the transparency of Georgian NGOs and "strengthen the sovereignty of the country." Garibashvili is Ivanishvili's henchman and ardent supporter. He sharply criticized the resolution of the European Parliament with a proposal to impose sanctions against his patron. He is also known for controversial statements about Ukraine. For example, he stated that without Ivanishvili, Georgia would have been dragged into a war with Ukraine.
“If Bidzina Ivanishvili had not come to power, today, friends, we would not have a country. Why? Because it would be drawn into the war, a second Mariupol would be arranged here, ”said Garibashvili.
Also, his connection with Ivanishvili is evidenced by the phone drain scandal. In April 2022, journalists published a telephone conversation between Ivanishvili and Russian oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov, in which the former actually calls Garibashvili his protégé, who is “young and takes care of everything.”
protests
Rallies against the "foreign agency" law in Georgia began immediately after the deputies announced that it was submitted to the parliament in February 2023. Journalists and activists came to the parliament with posters, demanding to stop the discussion and prevent the adoption of an analogue of the Russian repressive law.
On March 2, after the discussion of the "American and Georgian" bills began in parliament, several hundred Tbilisi residents came out to the parliament and marched along the central Rustaveli Avenue. The parliamentary security service did not allow journalists and representatives of public organizations to attend hearings on bills. Several opposition politicians were forcibly taken out of the meeting room. Detentions began.
The largest rally occurred on March 7, when bills began to be considered suddenly and unscheduled during the plenary session of parliament. A few hours later, the Russian analogue of the bill was adopted in the first reading. According to preliminary estimates, more than 10 thousand people came to the parliament on Rustaveli, and a confrontation with the police began. They began to use tear gas on the protesters, and also turned on water cannons, sweeping the chanting people out of the way. As a result of this rally, 66 people were detained.
Western reaction
In response to the "foreign" law, Brussels and Washington warned that it would jeopardize Georgia's prospects for long-awaited EU candidate status. Following the crackdown on the protests, the US State Department announced that it would consider imposing sanctions on certain Georgian officials responsible for the violence.
At the same time, just recently, in early February, the EU published a report in which it positively assessed the steps towards European integration that Georgia is taking, despite the fact that the opposition systematically emphasized the violation of the principles of democracy by the authorities. The EU was not embarrassed even by the sanctions imposed against Ivanishvili.
“The position of our Western partners has always been a mystery to me,” says Vasadze. – Yes, there was a government that certainly aspired to the West and to European integration. There were complaints about him. Then the government came to power, which is trying to sit on two chairs, and the attitude towards it is much softer. Nothing stopped them from praising Georgia, even though Georgian Dream simply swept aside Charles Michel's agreement on the electoral system.
Regarding the war in Ukraine, not everything is clear either. On the one hand, Georgia is in the Ramstein coalition, it votes, everyone sees its public position, but at the same time the country has turned into a gray zone for Russia, our authorities demand that Western partners allow them to make money on Russia, like a capricious child. There were requests for permission not to impose sanctions against Russia, as the economy would suffer, there was a refusal by Georgia to supply Buki to Ukraine. And now we have reached the point where peaceful demonstrators are being dispersed with tear gas and water cannons.”