Against the “agent law”
Tens of thousands demonstrate in Tbilisi – SPD politician Roth arrives
May 12, 2024, 6:27 p.m
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A project by the Georgian government is committed to transparency, but according to critics it is just a very authoritarian, Moscow-style request. As in 2023, Georgians are demonstrating against it en masse. This also has to do with your EU perspective.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated again over the weekend in the Georgian capital Tbilisi against a planned law to control foreign influence. They expressed their displeasure with the plans of their Moscow-friendly government. In the eyes of the demonstrators, this jeopardizes their country’s EU prospects. In addition to Georgian flags, many people also waved EU flags. According to media reports, the protests against the controversial “Russian law” initially took place without any major incidents.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth, announced a trip to Georgia to support demonstrators. “The recent mass demonstrations in Georgia have once again impressively shown that Georgians will neither be intimidated nor silenced,” the SPD politician told the Germany editorial network before starting his trip. “The capital of Europe is Tbilisi. I am proud of the many people who are committed to freedom and democracy, to our European values.”
Roth is traveling to Tbilisi on Monday together with colleagues from Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Finland. The aim was to “get your own impression of the dramatic situation,” he said. The delegation wants to speak to the government and members of parliament “to make it clear once again that the planned ‘international agent law’ is incompatible with EU membership.”
The law, which is due to pass parliament in third reading at the beginning of next week despite weeks of massive protests from the population, is called “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” and stipulates that non-governmental organizations that receive more than 20 percent of money from abroad the origin must be accounted for. Many observers accuse the government of the former Soviet republic of drafting the planned law along the lines of a Russian “agent” law in order to hinder the work of critical associations and media. In Russia, numerous organizations and individuals are branded as “foreign agents,” which often causes major problems for those affected. The measure is seen as a means of political repression to silence critics.