Massive protests erupted across Georgia's capital Tiblisi in recent weeks, as the process of the country’s parliament passing a controversial "transparency of foreign influence" bill – also known as the 'foreign agents’ law – proceeded.
Supporters of the Bill, including the ruling Georgia Dream party, say the law's intent is to prevent outside influence on Georgian politics. Opponents and protestors say it's modelled on a Russian law that has been used to clamp down on dissent, and prevent the country from moving closer to European Union membership.
High Representative of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, condemned the law following clashes between police forces and protestors in the aftermath of its passing.
"The EU has clearly and repeatedly stated that the spirit and content of the law are not in line with EU core norms and values," Mr Borrell said.
"The intimidation, threats and physical assaults on civil society representatives, political leaders and journalists, as well as their families is unacceptable," he added.
But what is the so-called "Russian Law" and why is it causing so much strife in country which many consider highly geopolitically important?
Upfront spoke to Aleksandr Atasuntev, to try to get an understanding of what's happening there. He is an exiled-Russian journalist specialising in post-Soviet affairs.
The law mandates that media, non-governmental organisations, and other non-profits, register as "representing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive over 20% of their funding from abroad, he said.
It is almost identical to the law the ruling Georgian Dream party tried to get enacted in 2023 but they were forced to withdraw it last year due to protests similar to the ones seen this week.
This iteration successfully passed its third and final reading in parliament on Tuesday, but the Bill's fate rests on President Salome Zourabichvili’s potential veto, which Parliament can potentially override.
Critics of the law and protestors fear it could threaten Georgia’s chances of becoming full members of the European Union. The country was awarded candidate status in December.
Speaking about the ongoing unrest in the region, Mr Atasuntev said that the EU formally threatening their status could see the ruling party withdrawing the law a second time.
"I think that it will be the red line for Georgian Dream because up to 90% of Georgians seek the country as the European Union member," Mr Atasuntev said.
"[If] there will be the clear sign, that they're [the EU] stopping any negotiations on the integration of Georgia into European Union, then it will ignite the street. We will see a wider protest. If Georgian Dream don’t withdraw law in that case, we could face some serious consequences," he added.
Mr Atasuntev spent a year living in Georgia after his exile from Russia at the start of the war in Ukraine before eventually settling in Warsaw, Poland.
"After the war started, I had to leave the country [because of] security. I ended up in Poland because Poland is safer than living in Georgia because there could be some issues with the authorities [there]," Mr Atasuntev said.
EU ascension
Georgia is one of nine countries currently in the EU’s formal accession process and the only one not to share a border with a current member state.
This physical distance from mainland Europe is one of the reasons Georgian Dream, the party behind the controversial law, has maintained popular support since first taking power in 2012 according to Mr Atasuntev.
"The fear of Russia is really high in Georgia. On the one hand, you have up to 90% of Georgians for joining the European Union. But the same people would say that to the direct conflict with Russia, we don't want to repeat 2008," Mr Atasuntev said.
The 2008 Russo-Georgian war was a five-day conflict which Mr Atasuntev says ultimately led to the formation of Georgian Dream and their eventual ascension to power in 2012.
The conflict in 2008 centred on South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two pro-Russian separatist regions whose independence is recognised by Moscow. Most of the world considers both regions to be parts of Georgia.
The Russian military has maintained a presence in the regions since the end of the war.
"The Russian military bases are located 40 kilometres from Tiblisi. Russian tanks are literally like half an hour ride from the capital [of Georgia]," Mr Atasuntev said.
Bidzina Ivanishvili
Georgian Dream emerged in 2011 as a political coalition led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union.
He served as Prime Minister from 2012 to 2013 but has since moved away from frontline politics while still acting as the party’s honorary chairman.
Under Georgian Dream’s leadership, the country has maintained strong ties to the EU post-war while also improving relations with Russia.
Critics of the new law say they are risking their relationship with the EU however.
"I think it's hard to know what Georgian Dream is doing. You're thinking that, for example, they have some plan, but last year showed that sometimes they don't at all," Mr Atasuntev said.
"Yes, they have economic growth for the last three years. It's impressive. They have finally got the candidate status. Also, they got some signs from Moscow that Moscow is not considering Georgia as the enemy state."
Mr Atasuntev believes Georgian Dream are pressing ahead with the seemingly unpopular law because they remain the most popular party in the often polarised country, currently polling at around 30% ahead of elections in October.
"I think they decided to make a second attempt to adopt the law, not because everything is bad. It's because everything is good. This law won't affect supporters of Georgian Dream," he said.
Protestors and opposition parties believe the new law will see Georgia move closer to the Kremlin as they say it bears resemblance to a similar law that has been introduced in both Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
They say that Moscow employs it to marginalise independent news media and organisations that criticise Vladamir Putin’s regime.
These concerns are well-founded according to Aleksandr.
"Bidzina Ivanishvili said during the rally on 29 April that we're going to fight with the NGOs. He announced some measures against opposition, mostly against [former president] Mikhail Saakashvili’s supporters. He said that one guy is already in jail, and it's not enough."
While Mr Atasuntev believes the Georgian Dream party does have some autocratic tendencies, he believes their approach to dealing with Russia is ultimately driven by pragmatism.
"For Georgia, it’s always been like, ‘Yes, Russia is bad, but we can’t do anything with it. We're still neighbours.’ The population of Georgia is 3.7 million against 140 million of Russia. [Georgia] don't have that much resources, for example, like Ukraine. They’re not ready to fight."
