Guarantee of Transparency or Tool of Repression?
In May 2024, Georgia's parliament voted through a controversial "foreign influence" law that has caused considerable opposition from media outlets, opposition parties, civil society groups and especially the socially and politically active Generation Z.
With the bill now enacted, with 84 votes in favour and 30 against, NGOs and independent media that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign donors would have to register as organisations "bearing the interests of a foreign power". Not only will they be monitored by the Ministry of Justice, along with any other person related to these organisations, they will also be forced to share sensitive and confidential information.
Legislative process
On April 3, 2024, Mr Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Georgian Dream party, announced the reintroduction of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence into the Parliament.
He indicated that the content of the law had remained the same, however the term “agents of foreign influence” had been replaced by the term “organisation pursuing the interests of a foreign power”.
Some representatives of opposition parties have complained that insufficient time was devoted to opposition MPs and civil society organisations in committee and plenary meetings, and that they had been unable to express themselves freely.
Based on these circumstances, the Venice Commission does not consider that the procedure of adoption of the law, which evidently appeared controversial and questionable, corresponded to appropriate standards.
Moreover, the law was adopted in the third and final reading within five weeks from its submission to Parliament, leaving insufficient time for discussions and debates over the draft law.
The law was adopted on its third reading on May 14, 2024. However, it was subsequently vetoed by the pro-Western President Salome Zourabishvili. However, with a majority from the ruling party, parliament overrode the veto.
"Russian law"?
Critics both foreign and domestic claim that this legislation is similar to those enacted on “foreign agents” in the Russian Federation, Hungary and Kyrgyzstan. In Russia, "foreign agent" carries a stigmatising label and is associated with spies.
The foreign agent law in these countries has hampered activities in human rights protection and the strengthening of democratic institutions. Due to their similarity, the foreign influence law enacted in Georgia has been referred to as the "Russian law” by critics.
Moreover, the Georgian government attempted to enact the same law in March 2023, by submitting two parallel draft laws to Parliament respectively on “Transparency of Foreign Influence" and on the "Registration of Foreign Agents”. As discussions about this law began, the term "agents" soon began to be used, and the activities of non-governmental organisations were linked to "a natural threat to the sovereignty of Georgia". However, following mass rallies in the centre of the capital where protestants were injured and faced violence from police, as well as harsh international criticism, the government decided to repeal the laws.
Official position
The Georgian Dream Party, founded in 2012 by billionaire and oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili and currently the ruling government in Georgia, asserts that this law will protect the nation from foreign interference, while also ensuring transparency for monetary flows supporting NGOs. Furthermore, the ruling party has asserted that the foreign influence law is similar to those in the United States and other democratic countries.
Criticisms
The law has faced significant criticism from both Georgian civil society and the international community. Parliamentary discussions on the law sparked large-scale protests, filling the streets outside the parliament, where police used disproportionate force against the protesters. Civil society representatives, political leaders, journalists, and their families, who opposed the law, were threatened and physically assaulted.
According to the BBC, the White House has warned that it would "reassess" its ties with Georgia due to the latest actions of the Georgian government. Additionally, the U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller declared the first tranche of visa sanctions against the Georgian Dream members, according to Civil Georgia. The Europe and Central Asia Director for Human Rights Watch has expressed that "The foreign agent bill seeks to marginalise and discredit independent, foreign-funded groups and media that serve the wider public interest in Georgia”. While Georgia has recently obtained candidate status to join the EU and must carry out the European Commission's priority tasks, the adoption of the foreign influence law directly hinders the country's accession process in the EU according to European leaders.
In fact, Pawel Herczynski, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, has stated that a decision to stop Georgia's EU integration process had been made on June 27, and the European Union has frozen 30 million euros in assistance to Georgia's Defense Ministry.
Moreover, the Venice Commission has analysed the draft law in their urgent opinion issued in May, which included a number of criticisms of the law. Firstly, the commission noted the key differences between the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and Georgian foreign influence law. Enacted in 1938, FARA originally focused on registering individuals or entities acting under the control of a foreign government. Its scope was expanded in 2016 to counter foreign interference in elections. Under FARA, registration is not required simply due to receiving foreign funds; instead, it is necessary when acting as an agent of a foreign principal, operating under the direction and control of a foreign entity.
FARA was not specifically designed to regulate civil society organisations or media representatives; rather, it was drawn to monitor any entity or individual acting as a legal agent for a foreign principal, requiring a significant level of control. In the US, the majority of NGOs and media organisations receive foreign grants without being required to register as foreign agents under FARA, as only a small percentage of those registered under FARA are non-profit organisations, mostly branches of foreign political parties.
In contrast, the Georgian law assumes that anyone receiving foreign support acts in the interests of the foreign funder, automatically presuming influence or control without evidence.
Additionally, the special category of personal data that organisations must provide to the Ministry of Justice could include information about a person's racial or ethnic origin, political views, religious, philosophical, or other beliefs, and even their "sexual life." According to the Venice Commission, there is no justification for demanding such information.
Georgian Dream and Russia
After invading Georgia in 2008, Russia continues to occupy approximately 20 percent of the country, and has recently declared the construction of a major naval base on the Black Sea coast in Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia. While the Georgian people have strongly opposed Russia's influence in the country, the ruling government has often been accused of attempting to strengthen its ties with the Kremlin.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned that if authorities withdrew the bill at its third reading, Georgia would lose its independence and "easily share the fate of Ukraine," without further elaboration. Additionally, the government's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been inconclusive. Georgia has refused to join international sanctions or restrict trade with Russia, while maintaining direct flights to the country. In May 2023, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili echoed the Kremlin's narrative, asserting that NATO's expansion was a significant factor in the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
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