(Tbilisi) Some 30,000 Georgians opposed to a controversial bill passed the day before in parliament, which threatens to hinder the country’s accession to the EU, gathered again on Wednesday evening in the center of the capital Tbilisi, according to AFP.
The day after this vote, NATO, the European Commission and the UN condemned this government initiative.
The law on “foreign interference”, inspired by legislation in force in Russia to repress the opposition, was voted on Tuesday in final reading by Georgian deputies.
The demonstrations against this text, which targets the media and NGOs receiving foreign funds, have lasted for more than a month, bringing together considerable crowds brandishing European, Ukrainian and Georgian flags and chanting slogans against Russia, which made the war on Georgia in 2008.
Thousands of people began blocking a major intersection in Tbilisi on Wednesday evening, paralyzing traffic in the capital’s central districts.
“We have been taking to the streets day after day for more than a month and we will not back down until this Russian law is repealed,” said Anuka Liparteliani, a 19-year-old student.
“And in the fall, we will drive out this pro-Russian government,” she added, referring to the legislative elections scheduled for October.
PHOTO VANO SHLAMOV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Weeks of massive rallies against the bill in Tbilisi culminated on Saturday, when nearly 100,000 people took to the streets.
Visiting foreign ministers from Estonia, Iceland and Lithuania joined the march to the protest site, before addressing the crowd in a show of solidarity with the demonstrators.
“We are here to support the aspirations of the Georgian people to be part of the European Union and NATO,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
“We are at their side, they are not alone, their concerns are heard, they are supported,” he added.
The national anthem of Georgia andOde to Joy of the European Union were performed at the rally.
Protests against the law also took place in the western towns of Kutaisi and Tsalenjikha.
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, on behalf of the European Commission, called on Georgia to “withdraw” this law, deemed contrary to the “values” and “essential standards” of the EU.
His vote has “a negative impact” on the process of this state’s accession to the EU, he underlined in a press release. Georgia has officially been a candidate for entry into the European Union since December 2023.
It also aspires to join NATO, whose spokesperson, Farah Dakhlallah, denounced on X a measure which “distances” it from its “European and Euro-Atlantic integration”.
The 27 members of the European Union, however, failed to reach agreement on a common text, due to opposition from Hungary and Slovakia, according to diplomats in Brussels.
Viktor Orban’s Hungary is among the EU countries the one that is Moscow’s closest ally. It refuses any military support to Ukraine at war against Russia.
Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili, a pro-European in open conflict with the government, is expected to veto the new law but the ruling Georgian Dream party claims to have enough votes in Parliament to override it.
Warnings ignored
” The impacts [de la loi] on the rights to freedom of expression and association in Georgia are unfortunately now likely to be important”, regretted for his part the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
PHOTO HADI MIZBAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk
The United States reacted on Tuesday by warning that it could “reassess” its relations with Georgia.
The Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian and Icelandic foreign ministers, for their part, traveled to Tbilisi on Wednesday to express their concern.
During a press conference, the head of Lithuanian diplomacy, Gabrielius Landsbergis, affirmed that “cosmetic changes” to the text would not make it compatible with EU standards.
President Zourabichvili proposed amendments to the bill but warned, during this press conference with the Baltic and Icelandic representatives, against any “artificial” negotiations.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidzé, for his part, said he was ready to discuss possible changes.
As it currently stands, the text requires any NGO or media receiving more than 20% of its funding from abroad to register as an “organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power” and to subject to administrative control.
Critics have dubbed it “Russian law” because of its similarity to legislation passed in Russia to suppress opposition.
The reference is sensitive in Georgia, a country which swings between the Russian and European spheres of influence and was the target of a Russian military intervention in 2008.