There doesn't seem to be a thread about this (or at least the latest protests), which is a bit surprising. There is this thread about the 2023 protests:
https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=542264.0The 2023 protests occurred when the pro-Russian government, led behind the scenes by oligarch and former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, tried to push this law through previously:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64882475
"There has been widespread international condemnation of the bill, which would require non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and independent media who receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to declare themselves as foreign agents."
"The opposition described it as a Russian-style law that would stigmatise and clamp down on Georgia's vibrant civil society and independent media."
"Russia passed its own version of a "foreign agents" law in 2012, expanding it over the years to target and suppress Western-funded NGOs and media."
The protests then put a stop to it.
But the government came back and now has passed the law, which puts Georgia's EU candidacy in doubt.
It is not hard to understand why the pro-Russian government (and in particular Ivanishvili) wants to push the breaks on Georgia's joining the EU... because the EU is not enthusiastic about Ivanishvili:
EU parliament votes to consider sanctioning Georgia’s informal leader
The body cited Bidzina Ivanishvili’s “Kremlin links” just as the country is waiting for news from Brussels on whether it will be granted EU candidate status.The body cited Bidzina Ivanishvili’s “Kremlin links” just as the country is waiting for news from Brussels on whether it will be granted EU candidate status.
The European Parliament has called on the EU to consider personal sanctions against Georgian billionaire and informal ruler Bidzina Ivanishvili and claimed that his alleged ties to the Russian government influence his country’s cautious position on the war in Ukraine.
On June 9, European lawmakers passed a harshly worded resolution on the worsening state of media freedom in Georgia, an increasingly sore spot in EU-Georgia relations. It was one paragraph deep in the six-page document, however, that got the most attention in Georgia: a call to consider sanctions against Ivanishvili for “his role in the deterioration of the political process in Georgia.”
The resolution also claimed that Ivanishvili had “personal and business links to the Kremlin” which “determine the position of the current government of Georgia towards sanctions on Russia.”
But the Georgian population is solidly in favor of joining the EU, setting up a conflict between Ivanishvili and much of the population.
Video shows scenes of mass popular demonstrations which seem reminiscent of the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv from 2014. More than a few observers have noticed the apparent similarities:
https://www.twitter.com/nseskuria/status/1785756850899566934https://www.twitter.com/nseskuria/status/1785756850899566934Incredible scenes from #Tbilisi
https://twitter.com/OnianiG/status/1785762505379246517https://twitter.com/OnianiG/status/1785762505379246517HappeningNow: #Tbilisi’s main avenue is packed with tens of thousands of people protesting against the #RussianLaw.
People keep coming irrespective of tear gas and rubber bullets.
#NoToOligarch #Ivanishvili
https://twitter.com/BrennpunktUA/status/1785826193339547919https://twitter.com/BrennpunktUA/status/1785826193339547919If this picture from #Tbilisi Georgia 🇬🇪 doesn't remind you of Maidan 2014 in #Kyiv Ukraine 🇺🇦, I don't know what.
#NoToRussianLaw #FckRussia
https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1785771937353937206https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1785771937353937206The "Russia is trash" theme is strong amomg Georgians tonight.
