On 17 April 2024, the Georgian Parliament voted to adopt the “law on foreign agents”, a similar version of which has been adopted in Russia and is basically designed to monitor the activities of foreign powers in the country. The bill sparked massive street protests in Georgia and received condemnation from President Salome Zurabishvili, who is not a member of the ruling Georgian Dream Party.
Zurabishvili and other opponents claim that the bill is a tool of foreign interference backed by Russia and aimed at undermining Georgia’s efforts to join the European Union. “The authorities’ insistence on passing this law despite the will of the people and the protests of partners is a direct provocation – a Russian destabilisation strategy,” Zurabishvili wrote in a post on X.[1]
If adopted, the foreign agents law would allow civil society groups and independent media organisations to be considered “agents of foreign influence”. to register as a foreign organisation. The law would apply to organisations, activist groups and media outlets that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. Zurabishvili has vowed to veto the law, but Georgian Dream has the majority to override the veto. The Georgian Government argues that the law is necessary to prevent foreign influence in Georgian politics.
Last year, an attempt to approve the foreign agent law led to three days of massive and violent street protests in Tbilisi and the bill was shelved. This month, however, Georgian Dream announced that it would reintroduce the bill. On 16 April 2024, dozens of protesters were detained during violent clashes with police. The day before, a brawl broke out in Parliament when the parliamentary leader of the Georgian Dream, Mamuka Mdinaradze, took the floor to speak about the bill and was then punched in the face by opposition member Aleko Elisashvili.[2]
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of the parliamentary majority and Secretary General of the Georgian Dream, stated that Georgia would not have problems in its relations with the European Union because of the “foreign agents law”, as the EU has adopted a similar law. The law exposes Georgian authorities to criticism from both the opposition and the European Union, the United States, the United Nations (UN) and the Council of Europe. Mdinaradze called on his partners not to call the law “Russian law”, which exists in the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and which exists in the European Union with stricter rules than those presented in the Georgian project.
Mdinaradze made the following statements on the subject:[3]
“How can we have a problem in the EU on an issue that was initiated by the EU itself? What brazen propaganda! We will tell everyone the truth. We even had a promise that they would be transparent if we withdrew the law, not even a promise, but the truth was told. Where is that transparency? We are a very proud, self-respecting nation and we ask everyone, especially our friends, not to tear us apart and not to threaten us with the finger for what they have.”
The draft law provides for the registration of only those organisations that support the interests of foreign powers and the transparency of their financing. The law does not impose any restrictions on the activities of these organisations. Only legal entities that receive at least 20% of their annual revenues from a foreign power are defined as “organisations that promote the interests of a foreign power”.
If the organisation meets the relevant criteria, it must apply to the National Agency for Public Registry for registration, which is free of charge. According to the draft law, the organisations registered in the register of “organisations that protect the interests of foreign power” are required to electronically file the financial statement of the previous year every January.
The law defines “foreign interest organisation” as follows:[4]
- A non-profit legal entity that is not established by an administrative body and is not a sports federation or a blood donation organisation;
- Publisher;
- A legal entity that owns print media;
- A legal entity that owns or uses a Georgian-language domain name and/or a domain name for the mass distribution of information on the Internet in the Georgian language, if the source of at least 20 per cent of its annual revenues is a “foreign power”.
The law defines “foreign power” as follows:[5]
- An asset forming the power system of a foreign country;
- A legal person who is not a citizen of Georgia;
- A legal entity not established on the basis of Georgian legislation;
- An organisational entity (foundation, association, union, company, etc.) or other human formation established on the basis of the law of another state and/or international law.
Reactions from the US and Europe continue to come from the US and Europe regarding the law in question. Sebastian Fischer, the spokesperson of the German Foreign Ministry, stated that Georgia could lose its status as a candidate for accession to the European Union (EU) if the law Georgia plans to submit to the parliament on foreign agents is adopted. Another warning regarding the draft law in question came from the US. US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller expressed his concern about the resubmission of the draft law on the status of foreign agents to the Georgian Parliament and said that he believed that this move would take the country off the European path.[6]
As a result, the internal tensions that have been simmering since Georgia’s EU candidate status have come to the surface. The Westernist wing, which tries not to contradict the EU in any way, is unhappy with the law passed by the ruling party, while the government defends the law in the context of national security and sees it as essential. Although the opposition and the President accuse the ruling party of being “Russian-orientated”, the party leadership and the Prime Minister have been consistently engaged in EU integration initiatives. Georgia’s geopolitical situation requires it to take delicate steps. If the ruling party unquestioningly does everything the EU says in order to speed up the process, it may lead to Georgia’s isolation in the South Caucasus in the long run. Therefore, it is understandable that Georgian Dream does not want to become a “satellite of Western powers in the South Caucasus” under the name of EU integration.
[1] Ebel, F., “Georgia pushes Russian-style ‘foreign agent’ law, putting E.U. bid at risk”, Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/17/georgia-foreign-agents-law-protests/ (Date of Access: 17.04.2024)
[2] Ibid.
[3] “Gürcistan AB’den gelen tepkilere yanıt verdi: ‘Sizde de aynı yasalar var, bizi tehdit etmeyin’”, Sputnik, https://anlatilaninotesi.com.tr/20240415/gurcistan-abden-gelen-tepkilere-yanit-verdi-sizde-de-ayni-yasalar-var-bizi-tehdit-etmeyin-1082534989.html (Date of Access: 17.04.2024)
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
