The spectre of “foreign agent” laws resurfaced in Georgia a few weeks ago.
Georgia, which has long allied with the West against Russia, seemed set on adopting laws that would oblige some NGOs to publish their foreign funding and or register as foreign agents, enforced through inspections and fines. Critics pointed out the laws were similar to the law that had been introduced in Russia a decade ago. Theatrical parliamentary debates, impassioned street protests and massive pressure from the EU all followed, and the draft laws were voted down earlier this month.
Zooming in, it emerges that the protesters were not exactly supporting Georgia’s NGO sector, which has long ranked low on the list of institutions Georgians trust. As one Georgia-based observer put it to me: “Nobody took to the streets to defend [the local branch of] Transparency International”.
