Georgia

The ruling party says it will pull a controversial Russian-style bill amid widespread criticism.

They called for clarity on how the proposals were to be withdrawn and demanded the release of protesters detained this week. The government's U-turn followed a second night of clashes between riot police and protesters outside parliament. Georgia has applied for candidate status of the European Union and sought to join Nato.

Georgia's ruling party has withdrawn a controversial bill from parliament after two nights of protests against the proposed law, whose critics say marked a ...

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Georgia's ruling party said on Thursday it was dropping a bill on "foreign agents" after two nights of violent protests against what opponents said was a ...

Giga Lemonjala, a representative of the Droa party, said they were demanding that the government formally denounce the bill and release all those detained during the protests. The Georgian Dream ruling party said in a statement it would "unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported, without any reservations". The authorities said dozens were detained. There is no trust towards them or their word," Droa founder Helen Khoshtaria said on Twitter. The bill had angered supporters of Georgian membership of the EU, after officials in Brussels condemned the draft law and said it would complicate Tbilisi's path to joining the bloc. However, opposition leaders said the protests would resume at 7 p.m.

Georgia's ruling party announced Thursday it is withdrawing a proposed foreign agent law after the legislation sparked two days of massive protests.

The ruling Georgian Dream party said Thursday the bill was presented in a negative way and that a portion of the public was misled. Opponents of the bill compared it to a 2012 Russian law that has been used to suppress or shut down organizations critical of the Russian government. Georgia’s ruling party announced Thursday it is withdrawing a proposed foreign agent law after the legislation sparked two days of massive protests.

Georgia's ruling party announced on Thursday it was halting plans to introduce a controversial "foreign agent" bill after mass rallies against the ...

I think the Georgian government wants the same," she said. "We will not allow them to make Russia define our future," she told AFP. [Ukraine](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/ukraine/) and [Moldova](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/moldova/) days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. "I know what's happening in Moscow. We welcome announcement by the ruling party to withdraw draft legislation on “foreign influence”. [Volodymyr Zelensky](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/volodymyr-zelensky/) called for "democratic success" in "friendly Georgia". [granted formal candidate status to Kyiv](https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220621-live-russia-gains-ground-as-ukrainians-acknowledge-extremely-difficult-fighting) and Chisinau but said Tbilisi must implement a number of reforms first. [Russia](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/russia/) to force media and dissenting groups to shut down. [Georgia](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/georgia/) to resume pro-EU reforms." [EU](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/european-union/) and [NATO](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/nato/), is taking an authoritarian turn and maintaining links with Moscow. Massive crowds had gathered in front of the parliament building in central Tbilisi on Wednesday, holding EU and Georgian flags, and chanting "no to the Russian law". [including a rally Wednesday](https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230308-protesters-clash-with-police-in-georgia-for-second-day-over-new-foreign-agents-law) that saw Georgian police fire water cannon and tear gas at thousands of demonstrators and issue a dispersal order.

The country, which won its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has long been playing a balancing act between its citizens' pro-European sentiment and ...

The law was initially passed in 2012 amid a wave of public protests over allegations of election-rigging and Vladimir Putin’s intentions to return to the Russian presidency. It would also hamper Georgia’s bid to join the European Union. Russia-aligned Belarus has had a citizenship law in place since 2002 that has a similar impact. All of them are alienating us from Europe,” Zourabichvili said in the clip on Tuesday. “They threaten to marginalize and discredit critical voices in the country. The bill must pass further readings to become law. Gogia said the legislation is similar to the law in Russia in that it is “trying to create a special status and legal regime for organizations and media that receive foreign funding and – under the disguise of transparency – interferes with freedom of associations and media and with their legitimate functions.” “I hope the Georgian authorities would heed to the warning and instead of passing the bills that would clearly impede the work of independent groups and media, they should ensure safe and enabling environment for civil society in the country.” For Gogia, the bills represent a clear threat to human rights in Georgia. “Under the disguise of transparency, the latest statements by the Georgian authorities strongly suggest that if adopted, the law will be weaponized to further stigmatize and penalize independent groups, media and critical voices in the country.” The second bill expands the scope of “agents of foreign influence” to include individuals and increases the penalties for failure to comply from fines to up to five years in prison. [erupted in Georgia](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/europe/georgia-foreign-agents-bill-intl/index.html) this week after the country’s parliament passed the first reading of a draft law that would require some organizations receiving foreign funding to register as “foreign agents.”

The EU Delegation to Georgia has welcomed today's announcement by the Georgian ruling party 'Georgian Dream” that it would withdraw the draft legislation ...

This website is managed by the EU-funded Regional Communication Programme for the Eastern Neighbourhood ('EU NEIGHBOURS east’), which complements and supports the communication of the Delegations of the European Union in the Eastern partner countries, and works under the guidance of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, and the European External Action Service. It is part of the larger Neighbourhood Communication Programme (2020-2024) for the EU's Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood, which also includes 'EU NEIGHBOURS south’ project that runs the [said](https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/latest-news/new-law-on-transparency-of-foreign-influence-is-a-very-bad-development-for-georgia-says-eu/) the law was incompatible with EU values and standards and goes against Georgia’s stated objective of joining the European Union, adding that this is “a very bad development for Georgia and its people”.

Ruling lawmakers in the South Caucasus country of Georgia on Thursday scrapped plans to introduce what critics called a Russian-inspired "foreign agents" ...

- The opposition has called for a new protest starting at 7 p.m. ... If I understand it correctly, one version was very similar to an equivalent law in the United States," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Its founder Bidzina Ivanishvili is Georgia's richest man, having amassed his fortune in Russia during the chaotic privatisations of the 1990s. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, a former French diplomat who wants to steer the country closer to Europe, said she would veto it - though parliament could have overruled her. The two countries have no formal diplomatic relations. 1938 "Foreign Agents Registration Act", which primarily covers lobbyists and organisations directly working for or under the control of foreign governments.

After two nights of violent clashes with riot police in Tbilisi, Georgian protestors won a victory Thursday when the ruling party announced it was ...

Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s support, seized much of the land around Nagorno-Karabakh in a 2020 war and now wants to form a route across Armenia connecting Azerbaijan directly to Turkey through the south. Putin will want to ensure that Georgia’s Maidan moment doesn’t end as Ukraine’s did, with the capitulation of a pro-Moscow government. But the law has provided a potent indication of the ruling party’s intentions and suggests there will be more to come. In Georgia, the law demonstrates the true colors of a government that has often professed to be pro-western while cozying up to Putin. In 2020, a caucus of US Congressmen bluntly declared him “a close ally of Putin and involved in destabilizing Georgia on Russia’s behalf.” Meanwhile, the 55-year-old Saakashvili, who spent time in Ukraine as an exile and was jailed in Georgia after his return, is currently on a hunger strike and in failing health, with doctors saying he was tortured in custody. Georgia isn’t the only part of the strategic South Caucasus that is being destabilized with Russian help or acquiescence. The US established a “Strategic Partnership” agreement; the EU concluded an association agreement in 2014, and a free trade agreement. Soon after Putin’s invasion of Georgia, Barack Obama came to office promising a Russian “reset,” reinforcing a sense of geostrategic limbo in Georgia that continued through the Trump years. The war resulted in brutal ethnic cleansing of Georgians in those regions and a strategic victory for Putin, whose forces currently occupy about 20% of the nation’s territory. The law apes one in Russia that passed in 2012 to severely constrain human rights, media, and civil society organization. After two nights of violent clashes with riot police in Tbilisi, Georgian protestors won a victory Thursday when the ruling party announced it was withdrawing the proposal cracking down on civil-society groups and the media, which sparked the demonstrations. The irony of Georgia’s plight today is that Putin’s Ukraine campaign can be said to have started then, when he found a pretext to launch an invasion in 2008 on behalf of separatists in the self-declared republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Georgians harbor deeply rooted animosity towards its Russian neighbor, while their government maintains pragmatic relations with Moscow.

Furthermore, the United States and NATO should be wary of any attempts to supplant the Russian military presence in Georgia with one of their own, given the clear refusal by Moscow to accept such a dynamic on its southern flank. Progress on political reform and economic development in Georgia is something the West should encourage and support for its own sake. For the United States, it will be crucial to remember that NATO was not willing to defend Georgia in 2008 and it is highly probable that the South Caucasus nation will not be joining the Alliance’s ranks any time soon, thereby guaranteeing it so-called Article 5 security. As one Georgian peace builder born in Abkhazia told me, the invasion of Ukraine was a very emotional period for Georgians as it recalled the trauma which they had experienced, especially at the hands of Russians. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Georgian citizens poured onto the streets of Tbilisi and other cities to show their support for Kyiv and their frustration with their own government’s policy towards Moscow. In addition, the ruling elite have often directly confronted the Ukrainian government, most recently over the return of [Buk missile systems](https://jam-news.net/ukraine-georgia-row-over-defense-system/) as well as Ukrainian President Volodimyr Zelensky’s pleas for Saakashvili’s [release from jail](https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/123123-irakli-kobakhidze-on-zelenskys-statement-the-ukrainian-government-was-directly-involved-in-the-special-operation-to-send-saakashvili-to-georgia-he-also-has-his-share-of-responsibility-towards-saakashvili/). However, it is important to note that Moscow had the opportunity to march its troops all the way to Tbilisi as well as to annex (and not only recognize) the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but chose against such a course of action, casting some doubt on the initial characterization of Putin’s ambitions of taking territory in the former Soviet space. [widely believed](https://ecfr.eu/publication/broken-dream-the-oligarch-russia-and-georgias-drift-from-europe/) to be ruled behind the scenes by the oligarch. From the mid-1990s up until the war in 2008, reconciliation of ethnic differences was viewed as the key to resolving the question of these breakaway territories. In late 1990, following parliamentary elections in Tbilisi which resulted in victory for the Round Table–Free Georgia coalition led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia, whose speeches had included strongly anti-Ossete remarks, the regional assembly of South Ossetia declared its own “sovereignty” (which, in this context, meant somewhere between enhanced autonomy and independence). The result was a fierce reaction from Tbilisi, which revoked South Ossetian autonomy and dispatched police and nationalist militias to the territory. Then-Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin even threatened to hang then-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili “ [by the balls](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-georgia-idUSTRE4B352V20081204).”

The Bill would have required media and non-governmental organisations receiving over 20 per cent of their funding from outside Georgia to register as “agents of ...

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TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Following days of massive protests , Georgia's governing party said Thursday it would withdraw draft legislation that opponents ...

The commission advises the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights body, on constitutional matters. Opposition parties have in recent years accused the Georgian Dream of pursuing pro-Russian policies while claiming to be Western-oriented. Two European Parliament members who handled the body’s relations with Georgia, Maria Kaljurand and Sven Mikser, indicated that concerns the controversial bill could harm Georgia’s EU prospects were well-founded. Zourabichvili does not belong to any party, but the ruling one backed her candidacy in the 2018 presidential election. They are also demanding the release of those arrested. But that process might be complicated since it has already passed its first of three required readings.

Waving Georgian, Ukrainian and EU flags, people gathered outside the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi to protest. PHOTO: EPA-EFE. Updated.

The interior ministry said on Thursday evening that all the detained people had been freed. Protesters also shouted anti-government slogans, with some demonstrators calling on the government to resign. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Georgia has hosted an influx of anti-war Russians. Opposition parties said in a joint statement that the protests would continue, pointing to a lack of guarantees “that Georgia is firmly on a pro-Western course”. Georgian and Ukrainian anthems as well as the “Ode to Joy”, the European Union anthem, were performed at the rally. TBILISI - At least 30,000 protesters took to the streets of Georgia for a third day running on Thursday despite the ruling party’s promise to drop a controversial “foreign agent” Bill reminiscent of Russian legislation used to silence critics.

TBILISI: Georgia's ruling party said on Thursday (Mar 9) it was withdrawing a Bill on "foreign agents" after two nights of violent protests against what ...

All major parties, including Georgian Dream, support the idea. Georgia's opposition has long criticised Georgian Dream for what it sees as excessive closeness to Moscow. "I want to congratulate the whole of society on this first victory of its kind. The authorities said dozens were detained. If I understand it correctly, one version was very similar to an equivalent law in the United States," Peskov said. The Georgian Dream party said in a statement it would "unconditionally withdraw the Bill we supported, without any reservations".

After mass protests and violent clashes between the riot police and protestors, the ruling Georgian Dream party pledged to pull the bill from the legi.

[congratulated](https://civil.ge/ka/archives/530588?fbclid=IwAR0Rd_12zH-G722BqHFRYJte60SPW1HuHVqSWna6olQrbJ3V8J0ayHJ78LQ) the Georgian people on their first victory and welcomed the decision of the government to drop the bill. She described the unity of the people as the first step toward depolarization and pledged to remain with the people on their path to Europe. [get worried](https://civil.ge/archives/529824) about the mounting western support for the protests. [pledged ](https://civil.ge/archives/530265)to pull the bill from the legislative pipeline. holds “several tools at its purview to hold anyone accountable.” The UK Embassy in Tbilisi also pointed to the difficulty of continuing its programmatic and financial support to the government if the law were to be promulgated. [arrested](https://civil.ge/archives/529893) for administrative offenses during the protests were either released because their detention time had lapsed or after they appeared before a judge.

AFP via Getty Images Protesters brandishing a European Union flag brace as they are sprayed by a water canon during clashes with riot police near the Georgian ...

As has been so often the case in Georgia, its Government miscalculated and underestimated the strength of civil society. The Georgian Government appears to have learned little given it blames only “the machine of lies” for the reversal rather than the content of the bill itself. The most recent crisis that has overwhelmed Georgia in recent days centres on a controversial and polarising law which would require civil society organisations in receipt of funding from outside of Georgia to register as foreign agents. The US Government response was also remarkable in both tone and substance. Consequently, there would be “serious repercussions” for relations between Georgia and the EU. In so doing it would have a “preventative effect” as funding for these organisations would dry up. Rather than participating in sanctions against Russia, the Georgian government has opted to benefit economically from the war. The Government has little interest in promoting organisations that will critique its performance. Georgian Dream leaders made little effort to disguise the intent of the bill. This setback provides a vital context for understanding the current conflict between government and civil society in Georgia. Georgia’s European identity has played a major role in defining the country’s sense of self and imagining its destiny. The Government has also come under fire for not reflecting the popular pro-Ukrainian mood in Georgia.