Experts on “foreign agent” law in Georgia
Foreign agent law in Georgia
On February 14, 2023, the Power of the People movement, consisting of deputies who formally split from the ruling Georgian Dream party, officially submitted a bill to parliament called “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence”, introducing the concept of “agents of foreign influence”, i.e. any person or entity with 20% financing from abroad.
The Georgian Dream Party liked the idea. For example, the chairman of the parliamentary committee for the protection of human rights, Mikhail Sarjveladze, said on the air of Imedi that the idea “deserves attention.” Therefore, it is possible that the Georgian parliament will soon adopt this law.
Others are worried. What threat might it pose to civil society and the country’s “Euro-Atlantic” future?
The Georgian Institute of Politics asked 25 Georgian and foreign experts what they think about this proposal.
Most of those interviewed agree that if the parliament adopts it, it will be a radical deviation from the process of Georgia’s European integration, which, in turn, will have a negative impact on financial assistance to Georgia from European institutions.
Opinion of foreign experts
Hubertus Jahn, professor of Russian and Caucasian history at the University of Cambridge, believes that this law, if passed, will “actually stop the process of European integration of Georgia … will affect the economic development of Georgia … and will negatively affect the young and educated generation, many of whom may consider leaving the country (as happened in Russia).”
Stephen Jones, director of the Center for Georgian Studies at Harvard University, says the bill was “created in accordance with the laws of Russia and other authoritarian states.”
“This is the beginning of a process that will destroy civil society in Georgia,” he said, adding that it is “a terrible throwback to Soviet times.”
Julie George of Queens College has a long history of studying authoritarian regimes and is familiar with the law. She says that where laws on foreign agents are passed, “over time, civil society weakens, media freedom disappears, and it ends with the emergence of authoritarian regimes.”
“This trajectory has been carefully studied and well known. This is not just a law, but a signal to the West that efforts to build democracy in Georgia are over,” Jones maintains.
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Stefan Meister of the Center for International Order and Governance says the Georgian government has deviated from the path of transatlantic and European integration.
The purpose of th law on foreign influence, he says, is to try to gain control over society and isolate it by cutting off international contacts and funding for civil society.
Today, when Georgia seeks European integration, it needs an active civil society and many international contacts, not isolation. Meister predicts that the country will lose many benefits that were financed by international donors, and thus, the number of young emigrants will also increase.
According to Meister, this law will bring Georgia closer to “Russian repressive political culture” and deprive it of the advantage that this country had in comparison with other post-Soviet states.
“Russia will weaken and lose its influence because of the war with Ukraine. Any rapprochement and compromise with Russia… will only have a negative impact on the political culture in the country and burn bridges to European and Atlantic integration.”
Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Center, says the proposed bill is similar to Russia’s “Foreign Agents Act” and, if passed, would “definitely harm Georgia’s European aspirations.”
However, de Waal believes that the law will not be adopted and this is more like a “pointed provocation.”
“This is the idea of a team of politicians who are not interested in the European integration of Georgia and want to promote their own agenda, make a name for themselves through public confrontation with the West.”
Georgian experts’ assessments
Even more radical in their assessments are Georgian experts who observe the situation in the country from within.
Everyone agrees that the initiative is analogous to Russian legislation and pursues roughly the same goals.
Professor Bakur Kvashilava, dean of the Institute of Public Affairs of Georgia, says “this is a direct copy of the legislation adopted in Russia many years ago, which contributed to the final destruction of the already shaken democratic institutions.”
Vano Chkhikvadze, head of the European integration program of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, who is actively involved in European integration processes, says the law directly contradicts the tenth paragraph of the recommendations of the European Commission, which says that civil society organizations should be involved in the decision-making process
David Afrasidze, a professor at Ilia State University, says that “this law will jeopardize the existence of an already fragile civil society by making it more difficult to finance and limit its scope.”
Afrasidze believes that the law “will be used to discredit civil organizations and activists, as well as to create a legal framework for control over civil society organizations.”
Tamar Khulordava, a founding partner of Egeria Solutions and a member of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the previous parliament, also sees it as dangerous not only to pass a law on agents of foreign influence, but even to consider it seriously.
“This will significantly damage the already shattered international reputation of Georgia. A country that restricts civil liberties and activities and wages a targeted campaign against civil society is not considered by anyone as a serious candidate for EU membership.”
Tornike Gordadze, an expert at the Paris Institute of Political Sciences, says that by initiating this bill, the government is trying to respond to frequent criticism of the EU and the US and show the West that it can also play hard-ball:
“The ruling party (we must consider the Power of the People movement as part of it and as an instrument) thereby shows its readiness to respond to pressure coming from the West: by establishing an openly authoritarian regime, the geopolitical continuation of which will ultimately be the transition to the orbit of Russia.” Gordadze says that the initiation of this bill (regardless of whether it is approved or not) demonstrates three things:
- For the Georgian government, Euro-Atlantic integration is less important than staying in power.
- The Georgian government believes that the West is geopolitically weak and can be blackmailed.
- The Georgian government is quite far from the EU and the US in terms of values, and closer to Russian or Hungarian and Turkish models.
