The Georgian government is committed to adopting the “foreign agents” law, despite protests / Article

Last night in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, was once again turbulent, as residents’ protests against the so-called “foreign agents” bill continued. Police used force against peaceful protesters who had gathered outside the parliament building to demand that the ruling Georgian Dream party halt further consideration of the controversial bill. Despite widespread protests, the Georgian parliament passed the bill in the second reading on Wednesday.

The majority of the parliament has not given in to the protesters

On Tuesday afternoon, thousands of people marched along Tbilisi’s central street, Rustaveli Avenue, to the parliament building, where lawmakers voted on the “foreign agents” bill. As before, this time also the protesters had in their hands not only the flags of Georgia, but also the flags of the European Union.

Despite the fact that the protests have been going on for several weeks, the deputies also supported the draft law in the second reading, the official name of which is “On transparency of foreign influence”.

83 out of 150 members of parliament voted for the draft law – all representatives of the faction of the ruling party “Georgia’s Dream” and members of its allied political force “Tautas vara”.

23 MPs voted against the bill, but the majority of opposition MPs did not participate in the vote.

After the results of the vote were announced, protesters outside chanted slogans against ruling party MPs such as “traitors” and “slaves”.

Demonstrators tried to surround the parliament building to prevent MPs from leaving, but the police blocked the streets adjacent to the building.

“We witnessed a severe provocation of the protesters, trying to provoke violent riots. This shows that their goal is not to express themselves peacefully, which is guaranteed in our country, but to create chaos and harm people as much as possible in order to distort it later,” argued the majority of the Georgian parliament. MP Rati Yonatamishvili.

Georgians want to be part of Europe

Some of the protesters, however, managed to access one of the exits of the parliament building, so clashes broke out with law enforcement officers. The police started to chase away the protesters with water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray. Videos have been published on social networks showing medics treating injured protesters.

The Georgian authorities inform that 15 people, including policemen, were injured in the clashes.

At least eight people were taken to the hospital, the Emergency Coordination and Emergency Assistance Center of Georgia informed. The victims were found to have various injuries, including wounds on the face, head and other parts of the body, as well as poisoning and breathing problems.

One protester said that despite increasing repression by the authorities, people are ready to continue protesting to prevent the parliament from passing the so-called “Russian law” in the third, final reading.

“I hope that we will be part of Europe, I hope that we can make free choices and I hope that people will not stop coming to these peaceful protests against our government.

And to people who still think that Russia is our great friend, I can say, ‘No, they are not our friends, they are our enemies,'” the woman told Times Radio.

“We hear from protesters, activists, young people – not only the slogan “no to the Russian law”, but also a logical conclusion – no to the Russian regime. And that is the end of this regime,” Georgian opposition MP Giga Bokeria told the media.

Concerns about a repeat of the Russian scenario

The “Foreign Agents” bill will require organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign countries to register as “foreign interest organizations.”

Its opponents believe that “Georgian Dream” has copied this bill from Russia, where a similar law was adopted several years ago.

Tinatina Hidasheli, head of the Civic IDEA think tank, said that the Russian government has succeeded in silencing critical voices.

“This led to the liquidation of civil society, as non-governmental organizations and independent media were closed. Many people from these organizations simply left the country, and now there are no non-governmental organizations or opposition groups in Russia because of this law,” Hidasheli said in an interview with the TV channel. Sky News”.

“Georgia Dream” has stated that the government aims to pass the final reading of the bill in the coming weeks. The vote in the third reading is expected to take place on May 17.

The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, has announced that she will not sign this bill. But the ruling party responded that it had a sufficient majority in parliament to override the president’s veto.

The EU candidate status was granted to Georgia in advance

Member of the European Parliament Rasa Jukniaviciene concludes that a hybrid war is currently taking place in Georgia.

In a conversation with “Dozhdj” media, she points out that the current Georgian government, in which the Russian-linked billionaire Bidzin Ivanishvili has great influence, implements an undisguised pro-Russian policy, although before coming to power, he gave the people hope for European progress.

“Georgia must understand that the status of a candidate country for the European Union, received at the end of last year, for which the people were very happy, was given to it in advance. The government knew it. It was, first of all, a geopolitical advance, a handshake to a nation that wants to go further with Europe. At the same time it was a signal to the Georgian authorities – we will help you, but you know how to act.

Currently, pro-Kremlin, pro-Russian policy is open. This is, of course, very serious. Now the nation must decide whether it wants to be in the European Union,” Jukniavičiene says.

She pointed out that pro-Kremlin activities are also currently observed in Moldova, where elections are approaching.

CONTEXT:

In Georgia, the bill on “foreign agents” proposed by the government has caused widespread protests. It provides for the inclusion in the list of “foreign agents” of non-governmental organizations and media that receive at least 20% of their funding from foreign countries.

Georgia’s ruling party “Georgia Dream” defends this bill and emphasizes that the Georgian public should know which organizations receive foreign funding.

However, the bill has drawn comparisons with Russia’s 2012 “foreign agents” law, which the Kremlin has used to suppress the opposition and shut down independent media.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili also opposes the draft law and has promised to veto it.

A similar bill “Georgia’s dream” tried to pass already last year, but after widespread protests, the Georgian parliament stopped its consideration.

Western countries are warning the Georgian government that the adoption of the bill will be a serious obstacle on Georgia’s path to joining the European Union.