“The situation is extremely tense.” On the border with Russia, in neighboring Georgia, the threat of civil conflict is brewing.

The political scientist notes that Georgian Dream is beginning to control the financing of opposition groups.

 

 

 

Georgian authorities are reintroducing laws on foreign agents. The move was suspended last year due to riots in the streets. Oppositionists are perplexed by the government's insistence and threats of a possible development of a political conflict. More information about events in the regions can be found in the material from Avia.pro.

Negative reputation

The Law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” was adopted in the first reading. 83 deputies voted for it, there was not a single vote against it, since the opposition did not come to vote.

Tbilisi is engulfed in widespread protests. The law is called “Russian” because, according to the opposition, it will turn Georgians into “slaves” of oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Police used pepper spray and batons on the protesters.

According to the new law, an organization can be recognized as a foreign agent if its funding from abroad is 20 percent or more. Exceptions include sports federations and blood donors. The source of financing can be either a legal entity or an individual. Organizations are required to provide detailed financial declarations, otherwise they face a fine of up to 9,5 thousand dollars.

 

 

 

According to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, all this corresponds to the European democratic standard and the opposition has no serious arguments against the law.

“Also, along with the European one, this bill is Georgian, since it protects the main principle of our statehood - national sovereignty. <...> If we do not protect sovereignty, what happened to Ukraine will happen to us,” he explained. We are trying to resist LGBT* propaganda, revolutionaries and religious extremists, the head of government clarified. And he reminded: in the USA, a similar law is much stricter.

However, Western countries showed extreme dissatisfaction with the law. The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Policy, Oliver Varhely, prepared a joint statement in which the bill for the adoption of the Georgian Dream law moves the country away from European integration.

 

 

 

“The proposed law would limit the ability of civil society and the media to operate freely, could limit freedom of expression, and unfairly stigmatize organizations that benefit the citizens of Georgia,” they believe.

According to the results of a December poll conducted by the US National Democratic Institute, support for the Georgian Dream party is 19%, while the opposition has 16%. However, 62% of respondents said that they are not interested in either party, and 79% want to join the European Union.

Now the opposition is extremely frightened by this situation. Lelo MP Anna Natsvlishvili says that the fight against foreign agents will lead to terrible civil strife.

“The situation is extremely tense. We will be sucked into a whirlpool from which we will take decades to emerge,” she predicts.

Girchi leader Iago Khvichia does not understand why Georgian Dream insists on its way.

“Society is divided, international partners tell us that they are against this law. <…> Who can we rely on if the whole world turns out to be against us?” - he is indignant.

Criticism of the new law was joined by people who were previously far from the country's political decisions, for example, athletes. In particular, players of the Georgian national football team Jaba Kankava, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Budu Zivzivadze, several district judges. Metropolitan Gregory of Poti and Khobi noted that the country is going through the most difficult period of its modern history and called for the withdrawal of the controversial document.

 

 

 

“I believe that this bold and magnanimous step will open the way to civil peace, and our homeland will escape danger. <…> Dear representatives of the government, I humbly make a defiant request to you: you can ease this dangerous tension and avoid possible dire consequences for our children and all of Georgia,” he said.

Vladimir Novikov, head of the Caucasus department at the Institute of CIS Countries, in a conversation with RIA Novosti, explained that the Georgian Dream party controls the financing of the opposition. This is not the first attempt; last year the law was withdrawn due to protests. But this time, most likely, the law will be adopted.

Meanwhile, Moscow assessed the Georgian bill positively. “Any country, if it wants to become a sovereign state where the people have the right to independently determine their future, is obliged to adopt a law on foreign agents, the essence of which is to prohibit outside interference in internal affairs,” believes State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

According to Dmitry Medvedev, the riots on the streets of Georgia are financed and spurred on by America.

“Whoever calls such actions spontaneous protests, let him be the first to throw a stone at his own mirror. Behind all these rallies, an experienced and familiar Hollywood hand is visible,” he believes.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov urged not to call the Georgian bill “Russian”. “The United States was the first to fight against foreign agents, and in the modern world this is normal practice,” he says. “States are doing everything to protect themselves from foreign interference.”