TBILISI — Thousands of people have taken again to the streets of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, to protest a contentious “foreign agent” law that was passed by parliament despite weeks of popular demonstrations against it and warnings from the West that the piece of legislation endangers Georgia’s path toward Euro-Atlantic institutions.
Protesters marching along Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue toward the parliament building were joined by the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Iceland in a gesture of solidarity with Georgians’ Western aspirations.
Protesters also thronged Heroes’ Square, a main intersection in the Georgian capital, RFE/RL correspondents on the ground reported.
The law, which was rushed through the parliament controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party on May 14, has been condemned by the United States, the European Union, and rights watchdogs for emulating a similar piece of Russian legislation used by President Vladimir Putin to crush dissent and stifle independent institutions.
“I want a future for the Georgian people where its European place is guaranteed,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told cheering crowds outside parliament late on May 15.
“We have started this journey together and our nations know what it means to be under the pressure of Moscow. We will never leave you, but all of us must shape the destiny of our nations,” said Landsbergis, whose country, like Georgia and Estonia, used to be part of the former Soviet Union before declaring independence as communism collapsed more than three decades ago.
“You, as a nation, have decided your path toward Europe. We, all of us, will do everything together to continue this path,” said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.
“Today I am here, you are not alone and you have our respect,” said Icelandic Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Gylfadottir.
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze also joined the protest march.
The four Western envoys met with President Salome Zurabishvili earlier in the day and held a joint news conference.
Zurabishvili warned during the news conference that Georgia’s survival as a state was in danger after parliament approved the controversial “foreign agent” law despite weeks of popular protests and warnings from the West.
She reiterated that she would veto the legislation as the government “did not listen to the voice of its people, nor to the advice of its friends, nor to anyone’s warning, and went its own way.”
“The issue of Georgia’s survival is at stake today,” she said, adding that she plans to mobilize Georgians ahead of elections in October.
Under the terms of the law, media outlets, NGOs, and other nonprofits would be required to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if more than 20 percent of their funding comes from abroad.
Zurabishvili, who is at odds with the ruling Georgian Dream party that pushed the legislation through parliament, has 10 days from the day of the vote to exercise her veto powers. However, the dominant position of Georgian Dream and its partners in parliament is strong enough to override a presidential veto.
Zurabishvili also held talks over the phone with European Council President Charles Michel on May 15.
“Reiterated my full support in continuing to help Georgians to work towards a European future, including by helping to find the best way to address legitimate concerns of all sides,” Michel wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
An RFE/RL source in Brussels said Michel also held talks with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and told him that the Georgian people must determine their own future. Michel told Kobakhidze to search for a way out of the political turbulence, the source said.
Kobakhidze has accused the protesters of “following the agenda of the political minority” and charged that they were showing a “great irresponsibility” toward their country.
As lawmakers voted 84 to 30 in favor of the law on May 14, thousands of people, mainly young people, massed in front of parliament and angry protesters tried to break metal barriers near the building.
They were attacked violently by masked riot police who made several arrests, violently snatching people from the crowd.
The Georgian Dream-controlled security forces have repeatedly cracked down violently on protesters over the past weeks using water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets.
Activist Davit Katsarava, who had been violently detained outside parliament and had sustained serious injuries to his face on May 14, recalled his ordeal in an interview with RFE/RL from his hospital bed.
“They cuffed my hands behind my back and called in a minivan that was parked nearby. I was brought to the minivan and heard one of them order others: Make a [human] ring. About 10 men beat me mercilessly,” a bedridden Katsarava, whose face still bore visible traces of serious injuries, told RFE/RL.
“After two or three minutes three of them followed me into the van and my [beating] continued there. My whole face and my head were bloody and swollen. They took out a phone and started filming. I heard one of them say [they were sending the video to someone],” Katsarava said.
Doctors said he had suffered a broken clavicle and fractured jaw and had undergone surgery.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien, who was in Tbilisi on May 14, said Washington’s relationship with the South Caucasus country would be at risk and American aid for Georgia would come under review if the bill officially becomes law.
“If the law goes forward without conforming to EU norms and this kind of rhetoric and aspersions against the U.S. and other partners continue, I think the relationship is at risk,” O’Brien said.
“This is a dark day for Georgian democracy,” a group of 11 U.S. senators said in a statement issued after the vote.
A NATO spokesperson on May 15 called the legislation “a step in the wrong direction” that takes Georgia “further away from European and Euro-Atlantic integration.”