Georgian opponents of the bill dubbed it “the Russian law”
Washington:
About 50,000 opponents of a “foreign agents” bill marched peacefully in heavy rain through the Georgian capital on Saturday, after the United States said the country had to choose between the “Kremlin-style” law and European aspirations. people’s Atlantic.
“We are deeply alarmed by the democratic backslide in Georgia,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan wrote on X.
We are deeply alarmed by the democratic backslide in Georgia. Georgian parliamentarians face a critical choice: support the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the Georgian people or pass a Kremlin-style foreign agents law that goes against democratic values.
-Jake Sullivan (@JakeSullivan46) May 11, 2024
“Georgian parliamentarians face a critical choice – between supporting the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the Georgian people or passing a Kremlin-style foreign agents law that goes against democratic values,” he said. “We stand with the Georgian people.”
The bill, which would require organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “agents of foreign influence,” triggered an ongoing political crisis in Georgia, where thousands of people took to the streets to demand that the project was withdrawn. .
The crowd on Saturday waved Georgian, European Union and some Ukrainian flags and, in a break with the past, included more older protesters as well as the many young people who have filled the streets over the past month.
“The government should listen to the free people of Georgia,” said a 30-year-old protester who gave her name as Nino, waved a large Georgian flag and led one of three columns that converged on the city center, which blocked much of Georgia’s roads. city. and filled the cobblestone heart of Tbilisi’s old town.
“We want to enter the European Union with our proud nation and our dignity,” she said.
Anuki, a 22-year-old acting student, said it was her generation’s responsibility to “make sure that our future and the future of the generations after us are safe, that they have freedom of expression and are free, basically.”
“And we don’t want to be part of Russia,” he added. “We never wanted to be part of Russia. And it has always been and always will be our goal to be part of Europe.”
Parliament, which is controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party and its allies, will begin committee hearings on the third and final reading of the bill on Monday. Opposition groups called for a new wave of protests starting Saturday.
The crisis pitted the ruling Georgian Dream party against a coalition of opposition parties, civil society, celebrities and the country’s president, with mass demonstrations shutting down much of central Tbilisi almost every night for more than a month.
Georgian opponents of the bill dubbed it “the Russian law,” comparing it to legislation used to target Kremlin critics of President Vladimir Putin.
The European Union, which granted Georgia candidate status in December, said the bill would pose a serious obstacle to further integration if it is approved.
Georgian Dream claims the bill will promote Georgia’s transparency and national sovereignty.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of Georgian Dream, said the law is necessary to prevent the West from trying to use Georgians as “cannon fodder” in a confrontation with Russia.
Sullivan said Georgian Dream appeared to be deliberately trying to break with the West, even though both the ruling party and Georgian public opinion have traditionally been in favor of the country joining the EU and the US-led NATO military alliance.
Sullivan wrote: “Georgian Dream’s recent rhetoric, proposed legislative changes, and actions run counter to the aspirations of the Georgian people and are intended to isolate Georgians from the United States and Europe.”
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