Thousands of protesters demonstrated Tuesday in Georgia after parliament passed a law to label foreign-funded NGOs as groups under “foreign influence,” a move Brussels warned will undermine Tbilisi’s European aspirations.
Lawmakers voted 84 to 30 in favor during the third and final reading of the law, which was widely denounced as a reflection of repressive Russian legislation used to silence dissent.
Protesters faced riot police on the street in front of the parliament building, in the center of the capital, where demonstrations took place last month.
Fights even broke out inside the chamber earlier when opposition lawmakers clashed with members of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Critics say the bill is a symbol of the former Soviet republic’s move closer to Russia’s orbit in recent years.
Shouting “no to Russian law”, around 2,000 mostly young protesters gathered outside parliament before the vote and several thousand joined the demonstration in the evening after word spread that lawmakers had approved the law.
Protesters later blocked traffic at a major road intersection in central Tbilisi.
The Interior Ministry said 13 protesters were arrested for “disobeying police orders”.
The wife of prominent opposition activist David Katsarava said he was beaten by riot police after being detained during the protest.
– US Alert –
Weeks of mass demonstrations against the bill in Tbilisi culminated on Saturday, when around 100,000 people took to the streets in the largest anti-government demonstration in Georgia’s recent history.
The EU said the law was “incompatible” with Georgia’s long-standing attempt to join the 27-nation bloc, while Washington warned that its adoption would signal Tbilisi’s departure from the Western orbit.
On a visit to Georgia, US Assistant Secretary of State Jim O’Brien said the US could impose “travel restrictions and financial sanctions against the individuals involved and their families” if the law is not implemented in accordance with Western standards and if there is violence against peaceful people. protesters.
He also warned that some $390 million allocated this year by Washington for assistance to Georgia would be “under review if we are now considered an adversary rather than a partner.”
UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps called the foreign influence law an act of “Russian interference in Georgia”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov reacted, accusing the West of “undisguised interference in Georgia’s internal affairs.”
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told AFP that he will travel to Georgia on Tuesday along with his counterparts from Iceland, Estonia and Latvia to express “our concerns”.
Both protesters and the ruling Georgian Dream party promised not to back down and new demonstrations were called for Tuesday night.
Some protesters say their ultimate goal is to eliminate Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012.
– Fears about EU integration –
The bill requires NGOs and media outlets that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as bodies that “pursue the interests of a foreign power.”
Russia has used a similar law to silence public figures and organizations that disagree with or deviate from the Kremlin’s views.
The EU repeated its position on Tuesday that the bill undermines Tbilisi’s desire to move closer to the bloc.
“EU member countries are very clear that if this law is adopted, it will be a serious obstacle for Georgia in its European perspective,” said their spokesman, Peter Stano.
Last year, Georgia was granted official EU membership and Brussels is expected to decide in December on whether to formally launch accession talks – an unlikely prospect after the law’s adoption.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who is at loggerheads with the government, promised to veto the law, in what she said was a “symbolic measure”, as Georgian Dream has enough lawmakers in parliament to override her veto.
“This law is taking away my future,” Anano Plievi, a 19-year-old protester, told AFP in front of Parliament.
“I’m angry and proud of all these people at the same time. Let’s keep moving towards Europe.”
Georgian society is largely anti-Kremlin. Georgia’s candidacy for EU and NATO membership is enshrined in its constitution and – according to opinion polls – supported by the majority of the population.
NGOs and government critics reported months of intimidation and harassment in the run-up to the bill’s reintroduction.
Georgian Dream described the protesters as violent mobs, insisted it was committed to joining the EU and said the bill aimed to increase the transparency of NGO funding.
The controversy surrounding the bill comes five months before a parliamentary election seen as a crucial democratic test for the Black Sea country.
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