Eka Gigauri is used to harsh words from officials about the anti-corruption work she does in Georgia. But seeing her face on posters of her, accusing her of being an agent of foreign influence, a traitor and a spy, made her nervous.
Gigauri, who runs one of Georgia’s main anti-corruption campaign groups, says she and many others have been attacked in relation to a new law, pushed by the government through parliament.
The “foreign influence” law requires media outlets, civil society groups and nonprofit organizations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from the foreign. It also subjects them to intense state scrutiny and imposes high fines for non-compliance.
The government maintains the law is necessary to curb harmful foreign actors trying to destabilize the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people. Many journalists and activists say their real goal is to stigmatize them and restrict debate ahead of elections scheduled for October. It could also threaten Georgia’s attempt to join the European Union.
___
This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series covering threats to democracy in Europe.
___
The law looks like similar legislation in Russia, where it has been used to repress opposition supporters, independent media and human rights activists. Georgian Dream, the country’s ruling party, managed to pass the legislation on its second try.
In 2012, after years of turbulence, Georgian Dream came to power. The party was created by Bidzina Ivanishvili, an obscure billionaire who made his fortune in Russia and briefly served as prime minister of Georgia. It has remained out of public view since 2013.
Georgian Dream promised to restore civil rights and “reset” relations with Moscow. He also promised to pursue EU membership and ties with the United States, reassuring those Georgians who looked to the West to protect them from their authoritarian northern neighbor.
In August 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which had made an unsuccessful attempt to regain control of the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Moscow then recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Georgia’s other breakaway province, Abkhazia, and established military bases there.
In 2022, after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Georgia formally applied to join the EU. Support for EU membership was already high, but after the invasion, polls showed that around 74% of Georgians were in favor.
Many in Georgia, with its long history of domination by Moscow, supported Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. But the Georgian government refrained from joining the sanctions against Russia, banned dozens of Kremlin critics from entering the country and accused the West of trying to drag Tbilisi into open conflict with Moscow.
Almost exactly a year later, Georgian Dream first introduced the “foreign influence” bill to parliament. Weeks of demonstrations followed, with police using tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters.
The EU made it clear that the bill, if passed, would harm Georgia’s accession prospects. In March 2023, the bill was withdrawn. In December, the EU offered Georgia official candidate status, despite concerns about the rule of law.
In April 2024, Georgian Dream returned the bill to parliament and protesters returned to the streets. Georgia’s pro-EU president Salomé Zourabichvili used her veto, but parliament overrode it by a simple majority and the bill became law.
Human rights advocates consider the law an existential threat.
“By labeling independent groups and media as serving foreign interests, they (Georgia’s leaders) aim to marginalize and stifle critical voices in the country that are critical to any functioning democracy,” said the group’s Hugh Williamson. advocacy group Human Rights Watch.
The day after the bill was signed into law, Georgian Dream introduced proposals to ban media depictions of same-sex relationships and any public gatherings that support them.
Tamar Jakeli, director of the prominent LGBTQ+ rights group Tbilisi Pride, argues that both initiatives are part of a broader strategy by the ruling party to divide society.
“The West, the opposition, LGBT people and civil society – we are all, together, demonized for spreading LGBT propaganda, trying to impose a Western lifestyle and erasing Georgian traditions,” said Jakeli, who moved away from home for reasons of security and carries pepper spray when outside.
Like the “foreign influence” bill, the proposed anti-LGBTQ+ provisions reflect Russian law. Rumors have circulated for months that Georgian Dream could be acting in coordination with the Kremlin, something the party vehemently denies.
“The evidence that Russia is the power behind Ivanishvili – and the Georgian Dream – is, at this stage, circumstantial. But it is still compelling,” James Nixey, director of Russia and Eurasia at the London-based think tank Chatham House, wrote in an analysis in May.
Georgia’s pro-government media emits a constant drumbeat of fear, warning of alleged attempts by the West to destabilize Tbilisi and stoke conflict with Moscow.
In an April 29 speech that baffled Tbilisi’s EU partners, Ivanishvili charged that a “global war party” is secretly funneling funds into Georgia through non-profit organizations to overthrow the government and convert Georgians as “cannon fodder” in a war with Russia.
Maka Bochorishvili, a Georgian Dream lawmaker who heads the EU parliamentary integration committee, told The Associated Press that the law on “foreign influence” is aimed at ensuring transparency.
He argued, without providing evidence, that some nonprofits support “unconstitutional forms of government change in Georgia” and that, as the election approaches, some have begun to resemble political parties.
Most of the organizations targeted by the new law are not prominent or influential. Large groups like Gigauri’s Transparency International will face the same level of scrutiny as small media outlets.
None of the journalists and activists who spoke to the AP said their organizations would voluntarily join the “foreign influence” registry. Gigauri called the decision “a matter of dignity.”
“First and foremost, we are citizens and patriots of this country,” he said.
But the law means officials can register their publications and organizations anyway. It also allows Georgia’s Ministry of Justice to conduct detailed audits, potentially seizing laptops and other equipment for months at a time.
Nino Bakradze, whose investigative publication iFact.ge has for years tracked secretive offshore companies, corruption and the impact of large foreign investment projects on Georgians, says this would essentially halt their operations.
Confiscation of the equipment also means that authorities could access sensitive data on the organisations’ staff, their sources, whistleblowers and those who approach them for help. In a country where far-right groups still attack Pride marches, this is especially worrying for LGBTQ+ rights groups like Jakeli’s, many of which have received foreign grants.
Tbilisi’s modernization in recent decades and its increasingly active citizenry seemed to indicate that democracy can succeed in post-Soviet states, threatening the Kremlin and other regional autocrats.
In October, Georgia faces its next big test: a parliamentary election. Zaza Bibilashvili, an analyst at the Chavchavadze Center, a civil society group, said there was little hope for a meaningful vote if the “foreign influence” law is applied.
Like others, he described an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Opposition figures have suffered serious injuries which they attribute to beatings by police or pro-government thugs. Gia Japaridze, a university professor and brother of a prominent opposition politician, told the AP that his attackers openly admitted that he had been attacked because of his criticism of the “foreign influence” law.
“Right now we still have a civil society that is trying to survive. In October we probably won’t have any of that. People will have been arrested (or) expelled,” argued Bibilashvili.
In Tbilisi, protests against the foreign influence law have become less frequent as activists turn their attention to the upcoming elections. But many still feel comforted by the spirit of the demonstrations that drew Georgians of all ages and backgrounds.
“I have never seen Georgian society so united,” said Giorgi Kikonishvili, an LGBTQ+ activist and club promoter in Tbilisi.
“Right now, things are devastating, but at the same time, it’s a very beautiful thing to see,” he said.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
