The Russian-style law on foreign agents currently being pushed through the Georgian parliament could spell the beginning of the end for Georgia’s democratic experiment. Only decisive action in Georgia and abroad can prevent Georgia’s descent into authoritarianism.
Contrary to some oppositional Georgian media, OC media has in the past refrained from throwing around labels like “pro-Russian” or “authoritarian” when it came to the Georgian government under the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Even when there were signs of it – such as Invitation to Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov to address the parliament from the rostrum or from the party seize of the judiciary – we saw that the ruling party, be it out of genuine conviction or out of populism, was still responding to the overwhelming public desire for rapprochement with the EU and eventual accession.
But what we are experiencing now is difficult to describe in any other way.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the party has embarked on a radical course anti-Western turn.
When a foreign agency right Borrowed from Vladimir Putin’s Russia grand agreement, it could well represent a point of no return.
The law is clearly designed to demonize and discredit Georgia’s vibrant civil society and the media, which hold the government accountable regardless of its shortcomings. In fact, officials began doing so even before its passage.
The government has used the same arguments as Russian officials in its attempts to convince people that it is harmless. Meanwhile, she has made little attempt to argue that Georgian civil society suffers from a lack of financial transparency.
The current law is already broader than Russia’s own law on foreign agents when it was first passed in 2012 – the media was only beginning to think so included Incorporated into Russian law in 2017. Russian law was subsequently tightened to wipe out the country’s civil society, a fate Georgia now awaits.
When the Russian law was passed, the Russian public, civil society and the international community failed to stop it. One could argue that it wasn’t clear where exactly it would lead.
There is no such excuse now.
OC mediahas vowed, along with 63 other media organizations registered in Georgia, not to abide by the law. This exposes us to the risk of crippling fines, or if a version of the bill being debated is passed – jail time.
But there must be resistance at all levels, in Georgia and among its allies in the west, who have the power to stop this before it’s too late.
This is not happening yet. There is a logic in some Western political circles that cracking down on the Georgian government too severely could risk “losing Georgia”. This is a mistake. It is absolutely clear that the West has already lost the current Georgian government, but not its people.
There are countless memes mocking the EU’s concerns (this time they said the bill “raises serious concerns‘). What the EU and the West as a whole must do now is set out clearly what passing the law would mean.
The EU has said passing the bill would “contradict” Georgia’s desire to join the EU. But such language, dressed in diplomatic pleasantries, cannot help the Georgian public to make informed decisions.
The EU should make it absolutely clear – loudly and publicly – that the passage of the law would immediately end Georgia’s EU bid process until it is revoked.
The US should make it clear that passage of this law – a descent into authoritarianism – would result in an immediate end to military support.
The Georgian public, which has been unswerving in its desire to join the global family of democracies, deserves to know the truth – that passing such a law would inevitably turn Georgia into an outcast in the eyes of the West.
Not acting decisively now would be a betrayal of the Georgian people and their aspirations.
