Grace Begley
While Americans deal with political chaos at home, a country on the other side of the world has fallen into severe turmoil. Tensions are high in the Eurasian country of Georgia after lawmakers elected a far-right former soccer star as president and implemented several authoritarian and pro-Russia policies.[1]
Georgia, which gained independence from Russia in 1991,[2] had its recent troubles begin in the summer of 2024, when the country enacted two controversial bills into law. First, Georgia’s parliamentary speaker signed a bill on “foreign agents” into law, which requires organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register with the Georgian government as “agents of foreign influence” or face large fines.[3] The bill, rightfully deemed “the Russian law” by critics, bears a strong resemblance to Russian legislation used to silence the Kremlin’s opponents.[4] The bill was passed over a veto by Georgia’s President and amidst considerable protests in the country.[5] The second bill severely curbs LGBTQ rights in the country.[6] The bill, passed in October 2024, bans same-sex marriage, gender-affirming care, adoption by same-sex couples, changing one’s gender on official documents, and positive depictions of LGBTQ characters in media.[7] President Salome Zourabichvili once again refused to sign the bill, although her veto was again overridden.[8]
The country’s difficulties continued in that same month, when the Georgian Dream party secured its position as the ruling party in an election many remarked “cannot be considered as free and fair”[9] and as the result of “Georgia’s subordination to Russia.”[10] President Zourabichvili even urged citizens to take to the streets in protest.[11] The situation only worsened when the country’s prime minister announced in November 2024 that the government was suspending talks to join the European Union.[12] The move, partially resulting from a decrease in E.U. funding after Georgia passed its foreign agents bill, once again sparked massive protests.[13] The decision was further condemned by the U.S. Embassy in Georgia as “anti-democratic” and “mak[ing] Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin.”[14]
Although the opposition remains strong in Georgia with these numerous protests, concerns of censorship are rising amidst violent attacks on activists.[15] There have been multiple reports of “unidentified assailants” brutally attacking protestors who spoke out against the foreign agents law.[16] Protestors and journalists alike have had their jaws broken, bones fractured, and cameras smashed or stolen.[17] One protestor brutally described being swarmed by “dozens of masked men in a back alley” who “kicked me all over my body, and at one point, someone stood on me with both feet and jumped.”[18] To make matters worse, Georgia’s investigations into the attacks have been essentially non-existent.[19] The injured protestors’ cases are rushed through in court with little recourse,[20] and police investigations have led to no arrests or suspects.[21]
This level of authoritarianism should not be taken lightly. Censorship, blatant discrimination, and retribution are powerful tools used by authoritarian countries to crush dissent. Freedom of speech, especially by those who dissent, makes democracies healthy. While Russia gains power in its war against Ukraine[22] and in its influence over President Trump,[23] Georgia’s shift towards authoritarianism only increases Russia’s global influence. While democracy is being threatened all over the globe, unfortunately, Georgia is no exception.
[1] Christian Edwards & Sophie Tanno, Georgia Political Crisis Deepens as Lawmakers Vote in Far-Right Ex-Soccer Player as President, CNN (Dec. 14, 2024, 10:08 AM), https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/14/europe/georgia-president-vote-mikheil-kavelashvili-intl/index.html.
[2] Emma Burrows, Georgian President Won’t Recognize Parliamentary Election Result and Calls for a Protest, AP News (Oct. 27, 2024, 8:37 PM), https://apnews.com/article/georgia-russia-election-european-union-8f040cb30e1d9c9e778383cbcbb7b2c1.
[3] Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, Council of Eur. (May 18, 2024), https://venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-REF(2024)026-e.
[4] Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Signs ‘Foreign Agents’ Bill into Law, Reuters (June 3, 2024, 3:13 AM), https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/georgian-parliamentary-speaker-signs-foreign-agents-bill-into-law-2024-06-03/.
[5] Id.
[6] Seb Starcevic, Georgia Signs Sweeping Anti-LGBTQ Bill Into Law, Politico (Oct. 3, 2024, 11:10 AM), https://www.politico.eu/article/georgia-signs-sweeping-anti-lgbtq-bill-into-law/.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Resolution on Georgia’s Worsening Democratic Crisis Following the Recent Parliamentary Elections and Alleged Electoral Fraud, Eur. Parl. Doc. P10 TA0054 (2024).
[10] Burrows, supra note 2.
[11] Id.
[12] Sophiko Megrelidze, Georgia Suspends Talks on Joining the European Union and Accuses the Bloc of Blackmail, AP News (Nov. 28, 2024, 7:42 PM), https://apnews.com/article/georgia-cabinet-election-russia-european-union-kobakhidze-1291827f76eac552a2918b4b584fa5a0.
[13] Id.
[14] U.S. Embassy in Georgia, Statement on Georgia’s suspension of European Union Accession (2024).
[15] Georgia: Violent Attacks on Government Critics, Hum. Rts. Watch (Aug. 20, 2024, 1:00 AM), https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/20/georgia-violent-attacks-government-critics.
[16] Id.
[17] Christian Edwards, Georgian Protestors Detail Brutal Beatings by Special Forces, CNN (Dec. 6, 2024), https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/06/europe/georgia-protest-tbilisi-police-brutality-intl/index.html.
[18] Id.
[19] Hum. Rts. Watch, supra note 15.
[20] Edwards, supra note 17.
[21] Hum. Rts. Watch, supra note 15.
[22] See, e.g., Constant Méheut & Olha Konovalova, Russia Talks Peace While Troops Threaten New Region in Ukraine, N.Y. Times (Feb. 21, 2025, 7:09 AM), https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/world/europe/russia-ukraine-peace-talks.html.
[23] See, e.g., Peter Baker, Trump’s Pivot Toward Putin’s Russia Upends Generations of U.S. Policy, N.Y. Times (Feb. 18, 2025), https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/us/politics/trump-russia-putin.html.