TBILISI, Georgia – Several thousand Georgians marked Orthodox Easter with a candlelight vigil outside Parliament on Saturday night, as daily protests continue against a proposed law that critics see as a threat to media freedom and aspirations. of the country to join the European Union.
The proposed bill would require media outlets, non-governmental organizations and other non-profit organizations to register as “advocating the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
Protesters and the Georgian opposition denounce it as “Russian law”, saying that Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent journalists and those who criticize the Kremlin.
Protesters crowded along a wide boulevard in Tbilisi on Saturday night, holding Georgian and EU flags, while a small choir sang Easter songs and activists bustled around handing out food, including hand-painted eggs and cakes. traditional Easter eggs.
Unlike mass rallies earlier in the week, which were met with a strong police response, the atmosphere was peaceful. Unarmed police officers, stationed sparsely on the sidelines of the vigil, were served festive food along with the protesters.
Most Western churches observed Easter on March 31 this year, but Orthodox Christians in Georgia, Russia and elsewhere follow a different calendar.
“It is the most extraordinary Easter I have ever witnessed. The feeling of solidarity is overwhelming, but we must not forget the main issue,” activist Lika Chachua told the Associated Press, referring to the proposed legislation.
The legislature approved a second reading of the bill on Wednesday. The third and final reading is scheduled for the end of this month.
The proposal is almost identical to a measure the ruling Georgian Dream party was pressured to withdraw last year following large street protests.
Georgian Dream argues that the bill is necessary to counter what it considers to be harmful foreign influence on the country’s political scene and to prevent unidentified foreign actors from trying to destabilize the country’s political scene.
But EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described parliament’s move as “a very worrying development” and warned that “the final adoption of this legislation would have a negative impact on Georgia’s progress on its path to the EU”.
Russia-Georgia relations have been tense and turbulent since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the two fought a brief war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control over two Russian-friendly breakaway regions. Subsequently, Tbilisi cut diplomatic relations with Moscow and the issue of the status of the regions continues to be a fundamental irritant, despite relations having improved somewhat.
The opposition United National Movement accuses Georgian Dream, founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, of serving Moscow’s interests. The ruling party vehemently denies this.
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