Thousands demonstrated against new proposal for “agent law” in Georgia – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

“I don’t want to be another brick in the Russian wall!”

“Remember who the real enemy is!”

These are two of the battle cries that rang out from the huge crowd in the Georgian capital late on Sunday evening.

Thousands of protesters marched through Tbilisi to demonstrate against the proposal for the “agent law”, which will be taken up again in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

If passed, the bill means that organizations in Georgia that derive more than 20 percent of their income from abroad must register as “foreign agents”.

Those who cheat will be fined.

The ruling party, Georgian Dream, was forced to drop a similar bill around this time last year. Even then, thousands of people gathered in the streets to stop it.

Critics compare the proposal with Russian legislation, which has led to many charities in Russia being banned.

An obstacle to EU ambition

The EU Parliament has been clear that the bill cannot be combined with European values ​​and must be withdrawn in order for Georgia to be approved for possible membership.

But it is unlikely that Georgia will become a member of the EU in the near future, said the chairman of the ruling party about a week ago.

– Last December we became a candidate country. The next step is to join, Irakli Garibashvili said then, according to Politico.

– Today we are not ready to become a member state.

Almost 80 percent of the Georgian people want the country to join the EU, according to a poll conducted by the National Democratic Institute in December.

– Want to show the family where I stand

– There are hundreds of such charities that have done so much good for Georgia, protester Nika Shurgaia told Reuters. He fears that many of them may be closed.

The news agency also met Levan Jobava in the crowd on Sunday evening.

– I want to show the family where I stand: no to Russia, and that our path and future is in Europe, because we need the European legal system and European order.

– There it is that the system holds the people, and not the other way around.