The EU has warned Georgia it will block annexation if it does not withdraw controversial Russian-inspired law International

The Foreign Influence Transparency Law, a rule the Kremlin has used in recent years to suppress all opposition in Russia, alienates Georgia from the European Union. This Wednesday, Brussels urged the government of the Caucasian country, led by a party closer to Moscow, to withdraw the regulation and warned that if it did not do so, it would stop the membership offer.

Mobilization of citizens against the law – which was approved on Tuesday – which has been harshly repressed, continues across the country. Meanwhile, the president, pro-West Salome Zurabishvili, this Wednesday announced the formation of a united opposition coalition to try to defeat the pro-Russian government. “I have presented to my colleagues a plan for what the European Platform should be like, which I have been working on for several weeks. The platform has been established and will be officially presented to the public. Putting Georgia on the European path to the future includes mobilizing in a peaceful manner for elections in which we all win,” the President explained.

“The adoption of this law has a negative impact on Georgia’s progress towards EU integration,” EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said in a statement. “It is up to Georgia to choose the path forward,” he said. The Caucasian country of 3.6 million inhabitants has been a candidate to join the community club since last December, but has not yet started accession talks pending the completion of a series of key reforms.

“The EU has clearly and repeatedly stated that the spirit and content of the legislation are not compatible with the fundamental norms and values ​​of the EU,” Borrell and Varhelyi continue. “This will undermine the work of civil society and independent media, while freedom of association and freedom of expression are fundamental rights that are at the heart of Georgia’s commitments in the Association Agreement and any path to EU accession,” he adds. , The EU has been slow to react due to pressure from Hungary – which is very close to Moscow – to soften its condemnation of the criteria.

A similar regulation to the Russian “Foreign Agent Law” implies that any non-commercial private association, project or initiative that receives more than 20% of its financing from abroad must register as an “agent of one’s interests”. Must be registered in. “foreign power” and the Ministry of Justice will conduct inspections every six months – including examining its internal confidential documents and communications. This could jeopardize many projects ranging from agriculture to women’s associations, but above all human rights and election monitoring organizations. Hence the ruling party’s haste to approve it before the legislative elections in October last year. A similar bill was withdrawn after massive mobilization against it.

One of the jokes circulating these days in Georgia is that the first to register on the list of “foreign agents” should be the Ministry of Defense, since a significant part of its budget comes from subsidies from the government of the United States, a The country has invested billions of euros in the Caucasian country over the past two decades to help modernize its administration and armed forces, especially since the 2008 war, during which Russia took control of the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Had done. “This law does not affect state institutions or companies, but it will be enforced against NGOs and the media,” explains Hans Gutbrod, a professor at Iliai Public University in Tbilisi. James O’Brien, sent by the US State Department this week to meet with Georgian leaders and the opposition, warned the executive that the $390 million Washington has budgeted for aid to Georgia this year is at risk.

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The EU is also deeply concerned about the slippage of Georgia, which is considered one of the weakest links in Europe along with Moldova and Bosnia, as NATO has warned. His government has been operating for years in a precarious balance between Russia and the West, while the majority of citizens are turning towards the EU and there is majority support for joining the Community club. At a time when the Kremlin is continuing the war in Ukraine and intensifying its influence campaigns, Brussels fears that the approval of the foreign agent law is a clear move by the government to place itself under Moscow’s influence umbrella. Therefore, several European countries have sent ministers and parliamentary delegations to Tbilisi in recent days to try to persuade Georgian officials to back down.

political movements

The Georgian executive has assured that it is still on track to accede to the EU, but just a few weeks ago the founder of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, an oligarch who made his fortune in Russia and who clearly condemned the invasion As tensions escalated over Ukraine, at a rally he railed against the EU and NATO, accusing the West of being a “party of global war” and in 2008 leading the country to war with Russia. Accused of “triggering”. Ivanishvili has also accused the West of keeping his billionaire fortune blocked due to “sanctions” in Switzerland, which is not true: this is due to his long dispute with the Credit Suisse unit over the past decade.

The Prime Minister, Irakli Kobazhidze, has tried to appear conciliatory and has said he is willing to take into account the Venice Commission’s recommendations regarding the controversial law if President Zurabishvili reduces his opposition to the text. All this, despite the fact that the Council of Europe, to which the Venice Commission is attached, has said that the approval of the laws without waiting for the advice of this committee of jurists – which plans to publish them next week – ” Very disappointing.

The President has made it clear that she will not help the Georgian Dream government “keep up appearances” and that she will veto the legislation. However, this will only take some time, as the ruling party has the parliamentary majority and will be able to get it approved again. However, his opposition to other laws approved by the executive this and last year – such as the one that eliminates the quota for women in party lists, the one that allows the repatriation of capital without paying taxes (made informal for Magnate Ivanishvili) or those who want to punish “LGTBI propaganda” – have made her a relevant figure for the opposition, despite the fact that she was elected to this post in 2018 with the support of Georgian Dream. , the party from which he has distanced himself because of its increasing authoritarianism and conservatism.

The Constitution of Georgia was revised in 2017 and several amendments that will complete the change of political system from presidential to parliamentary will come into effect in the October elections. Zurabishvili will complete his term in December and his successor will be appointed by parliamentary majority. Therefore, all eyes are on the legislative elections to be held at the end of October. Polls give Georgian Dream a majority, but given that the single-member system has been partially abandoned, the opposition has few chances of preventing its absolute majority. The new electoral law prevents coalitions, so the opposition will have more chances if they come together in a single list.

Already on Tuesday, after the approval of the controversial law, the leader of the opposition Lelo party, Mamuka Djazaradze, called for a “moratorium” on criticism among opposition parties and said that he had “closely agreed with the President” to create an “European Union”. “Coordination” maintained. Platform of National Resistance. After these statements, other parties have also joined this call. Levan Jabishvili, leader of the United National Movement – ​​so far the main opposition force – positively valued this initiative to “unite the opposition against the regime” and assured that his formation – founded by former President Mikheil Saakashvili – The cheese is ready. The type of dialogue and all kinds of concessions.” “We understand that we have a very difficult fight ahead of us, which should not and cannot be a fight between parties,” he said. However, there are doubts that the movement will accept Zurabishvili as leader, as personal relations with him are not good.

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