More than 20,000 Georgians march 'for Europe' to protest controversial bill

Some 20,000 Georgians staged a "March for Europe" Sunday, calling on the government to scrap a controversial "foreign influence" bill which the EU has warned would undermine Tbilisi's European aspirations.

Demonstrators with Georgian national and EU flags march outside the parliament building to protest against "the Russian law" in Tbilisi, Georgia, late Sunday, April 28, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze) AP - Zurab Tsertsvadze

Georgians have been staging anti-government protests since mid-April, when the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced plans to pass a law critics say resembles Russian legislation used to silence dissent.

Waves of similar street protests, during which police used tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators, forced the party to drop a similar measure in 2023.

Police have again clashed with protesters during the latest rallies.

On Sunday evening, before staging what organisers called a "March for Europe," at least 20,000 people turned out at Tbilisi's central Republic Square, according to an estimate by French press agency AFP.

The kilometre-long procession, which featured a huge EU flag at its head, stretched out along Tbilisi's main thoroughfare towards parliament.

The Georgian Ministry of Interior said in a statement that the protest "took on a violent manner. Participants of the rally verbally and physically confront the law enforcement officers at the site." Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

But former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, a co-chair at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said on social media that "the protests in Tbilisi against the new Russia-inspired so called foreign agents law certainly aren’t dying down."

The protests in Tbilisi 🇬🇪 against the new Russia-inspired so called foreign agents law certainly aren’t dying down. pic.twitter.com/xanufTUu9H

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) April 29, 2024

Veto

In an exclusive interview with RFI this weekend, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who is at loggerheads with the ruling party, has said she will veto the law.

"For the vast majority of the population, as well as for me, (this law) makes no sense.

"At a time when Georgia has just received (EU) candidate status, in December 2023, and is preparing to be able to open accession negotiations with the European Union, it is totally absurd to re-enact a law which was rejected not only by the entire population last year, but which was also rejected by our European partners.

Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili pictured here at the EU headquarters in Brussels on March 13, 2023. © AFP - KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

"I am going to veto, [as] I have vetoed all the laws ... which went against European recommendations. It is a highly symbolic gesture which takes into account the will of the Georgian population," she told RFI, adding that the veto may be annulled by a vote in parliament later this year.

Pro-government rally

Meanwhile, to counter the series of anti-government protests, Georgia's ruling party announced its own rally on Monday, when a parliamentary committee is set to hold a second reading of the bill.

If adopted, the law would require any independent NGO and media organisation receiving more than 20 percent of its funding from abroad to register as an "organisation pursuing the interests of a foreign power".

According to Georgia Today, the government is "bussing in" civil-servant “supporters” from around the country to rally alongside "those who truly believe the foreign agents bill and anti-LGBTQ restrictions should be passed into law."

The newspaper reports that it received reports from teachers who had been “strongly advised” to attend for fear of their jobs. There are some 100,000 civil servants throughout Georgia, says Georgia Today.

(With newswires)