Last year, I marched in the streets of Tbilisi alongside thousands of Georgians to demand the repeal of the Russian-inspired “foreign agents” legislation that would have required nearly all media outlets, nonprofits, and civil society groups in the country to register as “serving the interests of a foreign power.” Our demands were unsuccessful. In May, the Georgian parliament overrode a presidential veto to pass the bill, bringing the country back into Russia’s authoritarian orbit.
In the context of recent political changes in the West, where far-right movements have taken on worrying proportions, Georgia’s foreign agents law reminds us that authoritarianism can infiltrate democratic processes. As Canadians, we must see these developments as underscoring a broader and worrying trend: the very foundations of liberal democracy, and the institutions that preserve them, are never secure.
The fact that Georgia sits astride Europe and Asia, at the crossroads of two historical civilizations, might suggest that the nation is divided. Yet the Georgian people are anything but torn. Ordinary Georgians are solidly united in a pro-Western orientation, with 81 percent of the population supporting their country’s now tenuous bid for membership in the European Union (EU). It is no surprise, then, that 100,000 protesters—an overwhelming number for a country of fewer than four million people—descended on the capital to voice their opposition to the foreign agents bill as it was being debated.
Georgia’s commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration is legally protected. Continued membership in the EU and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is enshrined in Article 78 of the Georgian constitution. However, the European Commission has declared that the law on foreign agents violates its guidelines on Georgia’s candidate status and is “incompatible with EU standards.” The adoption of this law is therefore seen as a fatal blow to Georgia’s European future and a betrayal of its Western development ambitions.
In 2013, less than a year after Russia’s first foreign agents law came into force, Moscow began using it to censor and control anti-government media and NGOs. The law became a stepping stone to a much stricter statute regulating “undesirable organizations,” adopted in 2015. This second law gave state authorities the power to censor and expel any organization deemed objectionable by the regime, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, both of which were forced to close their offices in Russia. The same fate likely awaits Georgian civil society.
Many Georgians fear that the law could be used as a tool of political intimidation, as has been the case in Russia. In May, opposition MP Dmitry Chikovani was attacked by masked pro-government supporters outside his home. The same day, anti-government investigative journalist Nino Zuriashvili began receiving anonymous, threatening phone calls, demanding that she stop speaking publicly about the foreign agents law.
My friend Mariam, a 29-year-old lawyer living in Tbilisi and actively participating in the ongoing protest movement, told me via email that she too was facing organized intimidation. “I received calls asking me to stop posting stories [sur Instagram] “, she wrote. “They call almost everyone […] threatening people, telling details about their relatives, saying insults about our mothers and sisters.” In activist circles, receiving such anonymous, intimidating phone calls has become a mark of distinction — several other acquaintances in Georgia proudly reported similar experiences.
“The main challenge for Georgia is that we do not have an independent judiciary,” Mariam continues. “In a country where judges are not allowed to have free professional opinions, [cette loi] poses a great threat. It allows the government to investigate NGOs, their employees and their family members […] to come and check your house, your cell phone, your laptop [puis] to be declared foreign agents and to be investigated.”
Georgia is indeed struggling to build an independent democratic framework. More than three decades after gaining independence from the Soviets, Georgia still ranks lower than Papua New Guinea and Sierra Leone in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Index. It is also plagued by high-level corruption, weak opposition parties, and a lack of judicial independence, conditions that could allow for politically motivated interpretations of the Foreign Agents Act.
The struggle for Georgia’s development between Western liberalism and Russian authoritarianism reflects a broader global trend that should concern all Canadians. As far-right populism and political extremism sweep across the European Union and the Western world, the situation in Georgia reminds us of the fragility of liberal democracy and the freedoms it protects.
In October, Georgians will elect their eleventh parliament, an election that will serve as a referendum on the country’s authoritarian turn. Canadians must not look away. This election is a crucial moment for Georgians, who must choose their civilizational future: Europe or the fate of Belarus. Depending on their choice, it may be the last time they exercise that privilege.