The West or Moscow? In Georgia, a pivotal vote could set the nation’s course.

Outside the Georgian Parliament on Tuesday night, a young woman with short brown hair, draped in the red-and-white Georgian flag, faced down dozens of balaclava-clad riot police officers.

“We want Europe; we don’t want Russia,” the biology student, who gave only her first name, Mira, says. “We are here ... to make the government listen to us.”

Minutes later, the police used water cannons and tear gas to push back and disperse the tens of thousands of protesters, causing scenes of violent chaos.

The protest rallied mostly young people against a proposed “foreign agents” law, modeled on Russian legislation, that the European Union says would be an obstacle to the former Soviet republic’s application to join.

The ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew a similar bill last year in the face of massive youth demonstrations. Its leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has pledged to push the law through now despite continued widespread opposition.

Opposition fears “foreign agent” crackdown

Since emerging from the collapse of the USSR as an independent state in the south Caucasus, Georgia has been at the heart of conflicting interests. Many of its 3.7 million inhabitants are torn between loyalty to historical links with Moscow and aspirations to join the European Union and NATO.

The controversial law, which the government’s parliamentary majority is expected to pass when it comes up for a vote this week, would oblige local organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “agents of foreign influence.” 

That would subject them to tight administrative and financial rules, similar to those that the Russian government has been using to weaken domestic opponents.

The opposition, and President Salome Zourabichvili, worry that the Kremlin-inspired law would be used to silence critical nongovernmental organizations, media organizations, and corruption watchdogs that receive foreign funding, and to tame Georgian civil society.

Georgian Dream leader Mr. Ivanishvili, a prominent oligarch who made his fortune in Russia, threatened on Monday to “punish” his political opponents after upcoming elections, prompting concern that he is planning to take Georgia down an authoritarian, repressive path.  

Thousands of people, most of them students, have been shutting down Tbilisi’s main avenue every evening since the first reading of the bill in Parliament in mid-April. The protests often end in violent clashes with the police.

The large majority of the demonstrators are too young to remember the Soviet Union. They raise their hands to show they are peaceful; sing the national anthem; chant Georgia’s name in Georgian, “Sakartvelo, Sakartvelo”; and post live videos of themselves.

“I am really tired, and I am really angry,” says psychology student Mariam Esameshvilli, who came to the demonstration on Tuesday with friends.

“I am very scared that we might have a war, or lose an opportunity to develop and grow thanks to our links with the West,” she says. “I am very scared of Russia. Look at Ukraine. If you don’t want to submit to them, they harm you. We are a small country; we are not that rich. So we need the EU and the U.S. to protect us, or we will also be invaded.”

Protesters seek European, NATO protection

Moscow has de facto controlled about 20% of Georgia’s territory since 2008, when Russian-backed separatists took over the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“Moscow has occupied our territory for 15 years,” says Irakli Chorgolashvil, an information technology specialist from Tbilisi who came to protest with his friends and family. “To protect ourselves, we would need not only to join the EU, but to join NATO. And if this law passes, none of that will happen,” he worries.

“This is a major moment for our country. We will not stop protesting until the law is dropped,” he adds.

Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023, on the condition that Tbilisi would make legal and economic reforms in the coming years. But Brussels has warned that the “foreign agent” bill was “incompatible” with EU values.

President Zourabichvili, who occupies a largely ceremonial post, has declared her intention to veto the law. But executive power lies with the prime minister, and the president’s veto could easily be overturned by Parliament.

“We need help to resist Russia,” says Mira, wiping her eyes reddened from tear gas. “This bill is not just a bill; it’s about making a choice: Europe or Russia. And it’s clear, we want Europe.”