Georgia - February 2023

The ruling Georgian Dream party announced its support for one of two bills that would require all non-governmental organizations and media outlets who receive foreign funding to publicly register as ‘agents of foreign influence’ and face fines up to 25,000 GEL for failure to comply. Both bills, which were introduced by a Georgian Dream breakaway faction on February 14 and 22, have been subjected to sharp criticism from domestic civil society organizations, the President of Georgia, the United Nations in Georgia, and western embassies and government spokespeople, and special rapporteurs from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The PACE rapporteurs wrote in a statement that the draft law “raises several concerns with regard to its compatibility with democratic and human rights standards.” The bill’s various critics worried it would be used to attack and discredit NGOs and media critical of the government, and noted it appeared to be modelled on Russia’s ‘foreign agent law.’

Sources: European External Action Service, OC Media, Civil.ge, Parliament of Georgia