Mass demonstrations in Tbilisi against "Russian law"

There is more and more tension in the streets the capital of Georgia Tbilisi. When the protesters approach the doors of the parliament, the police move with tear gas and water cannons. Whistles are heard from the crowd, some throw water bottles or oysters at the gendarmerie, who are hiding with shields, writes Deutsche says (DW).

Several police officers and one protester were reportedly injured.

"We are not afraid of anything," says one of the protesters.

"This is our future, we choose EuropeEuropean Union flags are waving in the crowd.

Photo: AP/Zurab Tsertsvadze

What is the protest about?

Protests have been going on for days because the authorities of the "Georgian Dream" party are planning to pass a law "on the transparency of foreign influence" in the coming days, which critics simply call a "Russian law", writes DW.

A similar proposal was on the table last year, but was withdrawn after mass protests.

The draft law stipulates that non-governmental organizations, which receive more than a fifth of their funds from abroad, must register as agents of foreign influence and publish their income. The rulers say that it is necessary to be clean and everything to be transparent.

The opposition is against it. One of its deputies said that this law, "just like the law passed by the Kremlin, aims to publicly declare people as agents, spies and traitors."

On Wednesday, in the second reading in the parliament, the law had a convincing majority - 83 for, 23 against. It needs to be adopted in the third reading, which is expected in mid-May. There was also physical pushing in the parliament.

A regulation similar to the Russian one

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili criticized the bill and announced that she would not sign it. The majority in the parliament can override that veto and the law can be signed by the president of the parliament in the end.

A similar regulation has been in force in Russia since 2012, protestors in Tbilisi criticize, with the aim of systematically stifling civil society and independent media.

"It's about controlling the media and the non-governmental sector," says one protester. "The law is pro-Russian."

In the midst of the war in Ukraine, Georgia received EU candidate status in December. "We have to fight against the law." And everything that distances us from Europe," says another protester. "We must do our best to enter the EU as quickly as possible."

The European Union also criticized the law as well as the police's treatment of protesters, reminding official Tbilisi of the obligations of EU accession candidates.

The ruling party says it also wants European integration. At the same time, it maintains good relations with Moscow.

Opposition leader beaten?

The leader of the opposition pro-Western United National Movement, Levan Kabieshvili, was detained, the police allegedly beat him, according to his camp.

The deputy interior minister said Kabieshvili was arrested when he broke through a police cordon and resisted on Tuesday. Over sixty people were detained that evening. The opposition and protesters "constantly commit violence," said the deputy minister.

On Wednesday, however, Kabieshvili appeared in parliament with visible injuries to his nose and eye, and called on the authorities to abandon the law. "There are only five months left until the elections." I may never see this eye again, but in the land the truth will be recognized."

Russia-Georgia relations

Relations between Russia and Georgia have been complicated since the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially since a brief war in 2008 when Tbilisi lost control of two separatist pro-Russian regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

It remains the main sticking point in relations between the two countries, which have somewhat normalized since then. Georgia nevertheless joined international resolutions condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Parliamentary elections await the country in October. The latest polls see the ruling "Georgian Dream" in first place with around 36 percent of support, while the United National Movement can count on around 21 percent of the vote.