Tbilisi, Georgia – Georgia is in flux.
Protests erupted in the mountainous nation in the Caucasus region in mid-April over a “foreign agents bill” that requires organisations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from overseas to register as “agents of foreign influence”.
Critics see the measure as resembling Russia’s own “foreign agents” law, which is used to crack down on critics of the Kremlin. It was first introduced in 2012 and expanded in 2022 to include NGOs, media outlets and individual Russian citizens, such as journalists and activists.
Russia’s law, like Georgia’s, requires those who are labelled as “foreign agents” to regularly report on their income and spending and undergo financial audits.
Many among Georgia’s Western-leaning younger generation view the law, which was passed in May, as a sign that the ruling Georgian Dream party is tilting towards Russia.
They fear such a shift could potentially scupper the country’s chances of joining the European Union, an ambition enshrined in its constitution.
Opposition parties have, in turn, been accused by the government of allowing Western narratives to pervert traditional values.
Georgian Dream says the law is needed to promote transparency and protect the country from foreign influence. Its billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has accused NGOs of being under foreign control and plotting a revolution.
Antigovernment protesters have now turned their attention to October’s elections when voters will choose between re-electing the Georgian Dream party for a fourth term or ushering in an opposition party.
A national poll in March showed that Georgian Dream enjoyed 31 percent of support, roughly double that of the strongest opposition party. The ruling party pulls much of its support from older Georgians while most protesters who flooded the streets this year were young.
Amid the growing generational divide, Al Jazeera spoke to several Georgians about the protest movement, Russia and the EU.
