Georgia withdraws foreign agent law, but protests continue

Two days of protests with thousands of protesters, 133 arrests and harsh criticism of the European Union was all it took for the ruling party in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Georgian dreamhe will give up his intention to approve “law on foreign agents”with resonances to a similar text by which Moscow suppresses all kinds of opposition voices.

“We took decision on the unconditional withdrawal of the project of the law we supported,” explained Georgian Dream in a statement, which also heavily accused its opponents: “The machine of lies managed to portray the bill in a negative way and confuse part of the population. It was crossed out with the false label ‘Russian law’, and the approval in the first reading was presented (…) as a departure from the European course». Thus, they intend to insist “on a better explanation to society why this project was approved and why it is important to promote transparency”, with which initiatives in the same direction can be expected.

There will be a lot of explaining to do. Although they claim the law is based on US law, the concept of a “foreign agent” has a strong historical resonance with espionage and the enemy state, something that goes back to the Stalinist era. Namely, the media that would be subject to the measure considered the terminology itself offensive, but above all, fear that a law similar to the one adopted by the Kremlin in 2012 ride like the one in Moscow. The Russian government has hardened this to a version that no longer requires foreign funding, but simply that a person or organization is considered “foreign influence,” forcing them to justify their expenses and begin their publications with an official notification of their classification. .

Given these facts and the reactions that have been provoked, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, assured this Thursday that the Kremlin “is not involved in any way” in the elaboration of the law.

At the moment, the opposition does not believe the official announcement of Sueño Georgiano and assures that they will continue the protest: “To explain how they legally withdraw the project”, said the opposition leader in statements collected by Efe. They have the support of the country’s president Salomé Zurabishvili and EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell. Everyone wants to guarantee a western direction for the country and criticize the proximity of the Georgian Dream to Moscow.