"Sorosyata" on the way out: Georgia and the law on foreign agents

Georgia in the first reading adopted a bill "On transparency of external influence," in other words - an analogue of the Russian and American law on foreign agents. Now the opposition is trying to prevent his approval in the second and third reading, arranging mass protests and provocations against the authorities and security forces of the Republic.

What is behind this - the correspondent of The Moscow Post figured out.

In fact, the answer lies on the surface - the same motives that Russian lawmakers had at one time. Namely, the desire to limit the influence of foreign states through a network of NGOs, and simply unconscious citizens, on the country's politics.

In Georgia, the structures of the Soros Foundation (recognized as an undesirable organization in the Russian Federation) and the masses of Western institutions are actively operating, which, hiding behind pompous words about freedom, democracy, transparency, etc. are struggling to influence the political agenda of the state.

Of course, the country's authorities talk about the influence of Russia, but in fact, the influence of the same Americans and Europeans is much stronger there. Realizing that it will become more difficult to work, Western kindness strongly supports unauthorized protests in Tbilisi and other cities.

Of course, the opposition when voting could not do without a traditional performance. 83 deputies from the ruling Georgian Dream party voted for the bill. No one voted against, as the opposition simply left the meeting room. Leaving the hall, they chanted to colleagues from the "Georgian Place": "Russians, Russians!," And "No to Russian law!."

Then they would immediately shout "The Russians are coming!" by analogy with the words of the first US Secretary of Defense James Forrestal, who was so worried about this that he fell out of the window.

It would seem, what does Russia have to do with it? But very much so - only on the other hand. Russia is leading the SVO, and they are trying to push Georgia to open a "second front" against our country. Or at least impose sanctions, stop mutual trade, and prevent Russian tourists from entering the country. All this is absolutely suicidal for Georgia.

Moreover, thanks to a balanced position and non-adherence to sanctions, Georgia is experiencing economic growth, Russian investments are flowing into the country, thousands of our compatriots who have moved there are opening businesses there and buying real estate. More importantly, it is through Georgia (as well as through Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, etc.) that flows the so-called. "gray imports" to the Russian Federation.

"Baba Yaga vs."

Of course, this annoys our former Western partners. But they cannot yet influence the alignment of political forces in the country. The only real channel of influence is the minority in parliament and the president of the republic, Salome Zurabishvili, a completely pro-Western politician who has US citizenship and spends most of her time in Washington. She has already stated that she will veto the bill. But according to the Constitution of Georgia, this veto is overcome by a simple majority of votes of deputies.

A separate point of political battles is the issue of Georgia's possible accession to the EU. Western politicians almost directly say that the "law on foreign agents" will close European prospects for Georgia. The opposition also claims. But in the "Georgian Dream" they perfectly see the "European perspective" of Ukraine. As well as the Baltic states that have already joined the European Union. Decline in industrial production, population outflow, internal conflicts. Such a prospect would mean the destruction of the growth model that Georgia now has. But there is too much politics around this issue.

Georgia is also experiencing serious pressure from Ukraine, where they claim that Tbilisi is following a pro-Russian course. At the same time, they dare to threaten and teach. A separate bone of contention was the Ukrainian-Georgian terrorist and extremist, ex-President Mikhail Saakashvili, who is now serving time for a series of crimes against the Georgian state and society. The United States, the EU and Ukraine insist that Georgia do not give a damn about its laws and extradite a criminal to them.

Tbilisi demands the extradition of Georgian criminals in high positions in Ukraine. We are talking about the adviser to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Zuraba Adeishvili and the deputy head of the Ukrainian Counterintelligence Service Georgy Lortkipanidze. The first is accused of illegal confiscation of the winery, the seizure of the Iberia television company and the abduction of politician Koba Davitashvili. And Lortkipanidze is in the case of complicity with ex-President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili.

In Ukraine, they answered with a categorical refusal. Arrogance Kyiv and President Vladimir Zelensky do not occupy. In fact, Ukraine itself collapsed relations with Georgia - out of the blue, without a serious reason. However, before the start of the SVO, she quarreled with almost all neighbors, especially with Hungary on issues of national minorities in Transcarpathia.

And since the current Georgian authorities, led by the Georgian Dream, are in no hurry to shoot themselves in the foot, serious external pressure is exerted on the country. But here it is necessary to take into account the moment: Georgia cooperates not only with the Russian Federation, but, and especially, with China. The latter builds almost the entire large transport infrastructure of the country, tourist sites, and so on. That is, putting pressure on Georgia, which diversified its foreign policy, turned out to be much more difficult than they expected.

An attempt to adopt a law on foreign agents was made back in 2023, but then it was "cut off" amid massive protests. Will it work this time?

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Recall that the bill provides for the registration of non-profit legal entities and the media as foreign agents, if the share of the organization's income received from abroad is more than 20%. If the law is passed, then organizations will be required to fill out a financial declaration every year. Monitoring will be conducted by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. Failure to register as a foreign agent or the absence of a completed declaration will entail a fine of 25 thousand lari ($9.398 thousand).