Protests against the Georgian government, which is enforcing a controversial law on foreign agents, continue. The police used water cannons and tear gas against the demonstrators throughout the night on Thursday, Radio Free Europe (RFE) writes about 15 injured, at least two detained and the use of rubber projectiles. It was one of the largest protests in the country’s history. Demonstrations continued on Friday night, but the police did not intervene as they had the previous night.
Tbilisi
17:57 May 3, 2024
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Demonstrators barricaded the entrance to the Georgian parliament | Photo: Irakli Gedenidze | Source: Reuters
The protesters claim that the police used rubber bullets against them, which the Interior Ministry denies. But RFE brought as evidence of their use videos and photos of injured protesters and the projectiles themselves.
Thousands of people gathered in front of the parliament building and Heroes’ Square in central Tbilisi on Thursday evening. According to the correspondent of the Russian agency TASS, the protesters sat on the road and blocked traffic until the police pushed them out.
The riots were then repeated when protesters from the parliament building, who had previously barricaded its entrance, came to support the demonstrators in the square. People have been protesting outside the Georgian parliament since lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream party pushed through the law on foreign agents, also called the “Russian law” by critics.
The parliament addressed it for the first time last year, due to the opposition of the public and perhaps even the pro-European president SalomeBut in the end, the government withdrew it from Zubashvili. Now the MPs are discussing it again – it has already had two readings.
If the parliament approves the legislation in the next reading, it will mean that organizations whose operation is at least twenty percent financed from foreign sources will have to be labeled as “foreign agents”. Protesters point out that the rule aims to silence critics of the government.
Georgian President Zubashvili, who has distanced herself from the government, has already announced that she will use her veto power if approved by parliament.
Those who criticize the law include, for example, constitutional lawyer David Zedelashvili, a lecturer at the University of Georgia, who called the government a puppet of Russia. According to him, he is undermining Georgia’s integration into the EU and using it for his own survival, which is why the West should reconsider its policy towards Georgia.
The protests are to continue. “I want you to remember this date. Let’s organize a big demonstration together on May 11. A big, calm, strong, confident demonstration,”he said for RFE one of the organizers of the demonstrations.
The controversial bill passed the second reading in Georgia. Tens of thousands of people protested against him
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Foreign criticism
Volker Turk from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who described the interventions as an unreasonable use of force and called on the government to dialogue with civil society, or the United States and representatives of the European Union, have already spoken out against the suppression of the demonstrations.
According to the US, both the planned legislation and the government’s current actions are in conflict with Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic orientation. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobachidze has announced that he has ended negotiations on his planned visit to the US because Washington is said to have made the trip conditional on delaying the approval of a controversial law.
The American Embassy in Georgia has already confirmed the end of the negotiations on the visit, but did not mention the condition of postponing the approval of the law.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the crackdown on protesters, saying Georgians want a European future and the government should not prevent them from doing so. “Georgia is at a crossroads. She should stay on her way to Europe,” she wrote on social media.
At the same time, the European Commissioner Gert Jan Koopman visited Georgia in the past few days, who met with representatives of the government, the opposition and non-profit organizations. According to him, Georgia still has the possibility to remain on the path to the EU. “The EU will spare no effort – but the ball is in Georgia’s court,” Koopman wrote on the X network.
Georgia received the status of an EU candidate state in December 2023 based on the commitment to fulfill the so-called nine steps recommended by the European Commission. These relate to questions of the rule of law, the fight against disinformation or, for example, the dilution of the oligarchic system.
Koopman warned that the fulfillment of these points, on the basis of which the EU should later open accession negotiations with Georgia, is happening slowly.
Klára Malinovská, stamp
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