Georgia Faces Critical Choice: Euro-Atlantic Integration Or ‘Kremlin-Style’ Law

• US expresses deep alarm over Georgia’s democratic backsliding.
• Georgia faces a choice between Euro-Atlantic aspirations and a “Kremlin-style” foreign agent bill.
• Thousands protest in Georgia against the bill, dubbed “the Russian law”.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the United States expressed deep alarm on Saturday over Georgia’s democratic backsliding, emphasizing that the country faces a critical choice between supporting its people’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations or embracing a “Kremlin-style” foreign agent bill.

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“We are deeply alarmed about democratic backsliding in Georgia,” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrote on X.

“Georgian Parliamentarians face a critical choice – whether to support the Georgian people’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations or pass a Kremlin-style foreign agents’ law that runs counter to democratic values,” he said.

“We stand with the Georgian people.”

Moreover, the controversial bill has sparked a rolling political crisis in Georgia, where thousands have taken to the streets to demand its withdrawal.

The bill requires organizations receiving over 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “agents of foreign influence.”

Parliament, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party and its allies, will begin committee hearings on the bill’s third and final reading on Monday.

Meanwhile, opposition groups have called for a fresh wave of protests from Saturday.

 

Furthermore, the crisis has pitted the Georgian Dream ruling party against a coalition of opposition parties, civil society, celebrities, and the country’s figurehead president.

Mass demonstrations have shut down much of central Tbilisi almost nightly for over a month.

Georgian opponents of the bill have dubbed it “the Russian law,” comparing it to legislation used to target critics of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.

In addition, the European Union, which granted Georgia candidate status in December, has warned that the bill will pose a serious obstacle to further integration if passed.

Georgian Dream claims the bill will promote transparency and Georgian national sovereignty.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgian Dream, has argued that the law is necessary to prevent the West from using Georgians as “cannon fodder” in a confrontation with Russia.

 

Notably, Jake Sullivan accused Georgian Dream of deliberately trying to break with the West, despite the ruling party and Georgian public opinion traditionally favoring the country’s joining the EU and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.

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Sullivan wrote: “Georgian Dream’s recent rhetoric, proposed legislative changes, and actions go against the aspirations of the Georgian people and are designed to isolate Georgians from the United States and Europe.”

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