We explain the political crisis in Georgia, triggered by the bill on “foreign influence”

This text, an initiative of the ruling party, generated a massive protest movement in the country’s cities. It is the symbol of a Georgia caught between the European aspirations of its inhabitants and the pro-Russian positions of the government.

In Georgia, the anger has not subsided since the beginning of April. Dhe demonstrations mobilize tens of thousands of people in Tbilisi and other major cities. At issue: a bill on“foreign influence” at the initiative of the ruling party and inspired by a text used for more than a decade by Russia.

Georgian political figures (including President Salomé Zourabichvili) and mobilized citizens denounce a draft law that is repressive and contrary to the country’s European aspirations. These opponents, supported by the West, are the target of violence and threats, two international NGOs said on Thursday, May 9. The text could be definitively adopted within a few days. Franceinfo explains the ins and outs of this political crisis.

A law on “foreign influence” contested

A bill on “foreign influence” was adopted on May 1 in second reading by Parliament. The majority party, the Georgian Dream, wants the final vote to take place by mid-May. If the text comes into force, it will require NGOs and media organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “organizations pursuing the interests of a foreign power”, punishable by fine. A similar law, targeting “foreign agents”, has already been applied in Russia since 2012. It has helped to silence many voices of opponents of Vladimir Putin.

The government led by Irakli Kobakhidze speaks of a simple obligation to “transparency”. But PFor its detractors, it will weaken the activities of the associations concerned. The opposition also sees it as a repressive project, contrary to the process of accession to the European Union. She accusesformer head of government and the Georgian Dream, the pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, to pull the strings to carry out this project. The Georgian executive had already tried to pass a similar bill in March 2023, but backed down following massive protests.

Demonstrations violently repressed

Protest has been brewing in the country for more than a month, with demonstrations in Tbilisi and major cities. Regular rallies, bringing together tens of thousands of people, take place in front of Parliament and other emblematic places in the capital, such as theat Heroes’ Square, where a monument in memory of Georgian soldiers who died in combat stands.

These mobilizations are marked by violent clashes with the police. Citizens receive “threat” while the politicians and activists involved are targeted by “organized attacks and reprisals”, denounced the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International on Thursday. Human Rights Watch, for its part, deplored the fact that certain demonstrators, including a 17-year-old high school student, were “violently beaten by the police”.

Thus, the April 30, law enforcement intervened without warning, using tear gas and rubber bullets, beating and arresting dozens of people. Levan Khabeishvili, the president of the United National Movement, the main opposition party, has published on April 30 on the social network a photo of his swollen face. Several journalists were also targeted. The Georgian Ministry of the Interior assured for its part that the police had used force in a manner “legitimate” because the demonstration was “became violent”.

Opposed to the Prime Minister, President Salomé Zourabichvili wants to support the demonstrators “until the end”she declared on May 2 on France Inter. Internationally, France has expressed its “deep concern” regarding this repression and urged the Georgian government “to ensure respect for the right to peaceful protest as well as freedom of the press”. The European Union also condemned the “violence” of the police. The UN has denounced a use “disproportionate force”.

A European future compromised by pro-Russian power

This bill has today become the symbol of a Georgia caught between the European aspirations of its inhabitants and the government’s proximity to Russia. On April 15, deputies even came to blows in the middle of the chamber. “Georgia has never been pro-Russian and never will be”said Salomé Zourabichvili on France Inter. “What is at stake is the European future of Georgia and it is more than the European future, it is its independence”, believes the president. Moscow has also occupied, since the Russo-Georgian war of 2008, two regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.