For the second time in two years, tens of thousands of protesters in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi are braving police tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and beatings to block a Russia-style “foreign agent” law aimed at clamping down on independent civil society. The protesters, mainly young people, see it as an existential battle for the future of their country – the only way to prevent a disastrous turn away from EU integration towards Putinesque authoritarianism.
The EU has been a crucial ally in their fight both times, issuing statement after statement condemning the law and granting EU candidate status to Georgia last December after the government withdrew its original proposal. However, worryingly, the EU is now pursuing a near-identical law to the one it criticises, jeopardising the bloc’s credibility to speak out against the Georgian legislation.
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