{"id":71494,"date":"2025-03-27T15:07:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T14:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/?p=71494"},"modified":"2026-01-21T17:30:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:30:48","slug":"final-battle-to-save-civil-space-in-georgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/en\/final-battle-to-save-civil-space-in-georgia\/","title":{"rendered":"Final battle to save civil space in Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Foto: Imago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Repression is inten\u00adsi\u00adfying in Georgia: following an attempt to introduce a Russian-inspired foreign agents law, targeted attacks on civil society, protesters, and independent media have ensued. Civic space is increas\u00adingly being restricted \u2013 through surveil\u00adlance, legal crack\u00addowns, and the targeted perse\u00adcution of critical voices. To withstand this crucial fight for democracy, Georgian civil society now urgently needs clear and decisive support from Europe. Ivane Chkhik\u00advadze from the Civil Society Foundation analyzes this escalation and outlines concrete expec\u00adta\u00adtions towards the EU.<\/h3>\n

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Executive summary<\/h2>\n

For quite some time now, the democ\u00adratic world has been watching, in real-time, as the Georgian Dream (GD) government chokes civil society and opposition in the country, silencing critical voices. GD accel\u00aderated this process in 2023, attempting to pass a Russian-style foreign agents law<\/a>. In parallel with that, it launched large-scale attacks (verbal as well as physical) on civil activists in Georgia. Georgian Dream failed in its first attempt to pass the legis\u00adlation, but this did not stop them from building author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adanism. GD has managed to shrink the civic space in Georgia dramat\u00adi\u00adcally in record time. While civil society engages in its final battle against the author\u00adi\u00adtarian regime in Georgia, the European Union persists in its failure to realize that the GD is already passed the point of no return and has been wasting time and effort trying to change GD\u2019s behaviour. In December 2023, the European Union spared the rod \u2013 giving candidate status to Georgia even though GD had not fulfilled crucial points of the condi\u00adtions that were to supposed be a prereq\u00aduisite for the award of this status. With that decision, the EU lost yet more and arguably the last of its leverage over GD. It also contra\u00advened its own logic \u2013 first refusing grant Georgia candidate status in 2022 due to the democ\u00adratic backsliding in the country, and then deciding to grant it in the autumn of 2023, when the situation was even worse. Georgian civil society realizes that their country\u2019s future is on the line and that this is their battle to fight, but to wage this battle they need tailor made and practical support from Brussels and EU member states.<\/p>\n

The reality on the ground<\/h2>\n

Every day, the ravaged space in which civil society organi\u00adza\u00adtions (CSOs) can operate grows smaller and more perilous. Starting from the time of its indepen\u00addence, Georgia boasted a vibrant civil society, which is one of the central guarantees when it comes to keeping author\u00adities accountable in countries where state insti\u00adtu\u00adtions are weak, and the system of checks and balances is distorted. As of 2022, there were 31,339 non-entre\u00adpre\u00adneurial (non-commercial) legal entities \u2013 NNLEs \u2013 regis\u00adtered in Georgia, though only 4,051 of these were recog\u00adnized as \u201cactive\u201d by the National Statis\u00adtical Office of Georgia. One of the biggest challenges CSOs faced was securing their financial viability. Inter\u00adna\u00adtional donors like USAID, the EU, and individual EU member states used to be the primary source of income for civil society organizations.<\/p>\n

On 28 November 2024 Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would be dropping the EU accession process, opening the door for GD to pass legis\u00adlation strength\u00adening author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adanism in the country. The GD took aim at its detractors, with three main objec\u00adtives: restricting the space for street protests, damaging the reputation of civil society repre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtives by attributing the status of foreign agents to them, and hurting the opposition parties, notably the United National Movement, by accusing them of treason. The decisions taken by the new US admin\u00adis\u00adtration are grist for GD\u2019s mill. As mentioned above, Georgia\u2019s civil society depends largely on foreign donors, and the sudden decisions to suspend the work of USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) left Georgian CSOs in a critical situation at this crucial moment, when the country is heading at full speed into author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adanism. Thus far, European Union\u2019s promise that the frozen EUR 120 million origi\u00adnally intended for Georgian author\u00adities would be redirected to support civil society organi\u00adza\u00adtions remains just words. The time for words has passed though. Georgian civil society now needs action rather than rhetoric. Time is of the essence: CSOs must either comply with the legis\u00adlation enacted by the GD government and label themselves foreign agents or put their very existence at risk. If Georgia\u2019s civil society loses the battle it is waging, the EU will have yet another author\u00adi\u00adtarian state in its immediate neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

Decisive battle for Georgia\u2019s democracy<\/h2>\n

Georgian Dream has reached the final phase of its project to annihilate Georgian civil society. In a speech held in April 2024, Bidzina Ivanishvili promised the strict condem\u00adnation of the United National Movement (UNM) (which brings together civil society, media, opposition, political parties, etc.), adding that they would be punished. He is now in the process of trans\u00adlating those words into deeds. In the last few years, the Georgian people and civil society have been fighting to save the country\u2019s European future. GD\u2019s aim is to suffocate the NGO sector gradually. It is using three main methods to do so.<\/p>\n

Firstly, <\/em>the GD parliament amended the admin\u00adis\u00adtrative code, intro\u00adducing harsher penalties for viola\u00adtions of the rules on organizing or holding assem\u00adblies or demon\u00adstra\u00adtions. The aim here is to put an end to the street protests. Under the amended legis\u00adlation, anyone who blocks a roadway during a protest could be fined GEL 5,000 (approx\u00adi\u00admately EUR 1650), 2.5 times the average monthly salary in Georgia. The fine for hanging the placards was increased from GEL 50 to GEL 1000 (app. EUR 330). According to the one of the most reputable civil society organi\u00adza\u00adtions in Georgia \u2014 the Georgian Young Lawyers Associ\u00adation (GYLA<\/a>) \u2014 from November 28, 2024, when popular protests erupted in Georgia, to March 18, 2025, fines imposed on protesters accused by author\u00adities of blocking roads reached GEL 2 million (app. EUR 670,000). To effec\u00adtively identify the \u201cperpe\u00adtrators\u201d, GD police use state surveil\u00adlance cameras<\/a> manufac\u00adtured by two Chinese companies, Hikvision and Dahua Technology, both of which are subject to US sanctions. Moreover, the country\u2019s Interior Ministry uses a facial recog\u00adnition system from a company with ties to Russian intel\u00adli\u00adgence. Surveil\u00adlance is part of the GD\u2019s approach to rule, and the figures speak for themselves: In 2020, Georgia imported 7,178 surveil\u00adlance cameras. In 2021, that figure increased to 9,694; 16,423 were imported in 2022; and 16,423 in 2023. In 2024, there were at least 4318 so-called \u201csmart cameras\u201d in Georgia. The \u201csmart camera\u201d has a range of advanced functions<\/a>, including vehicle number recog\u00adnition, detecting traffic rule viola\u00adtions, and identi\u00adfying various types of movements.<\/p>\n

Secondly,<\/em> the Georgian Dream justice system keeps on chasing the individuals who were active during the protests. This includes either subjecting them to severe beats or putting them in prison on sentences of up to several years. From November 2024 to January 2025, the GD justice system imprisoned 54 persons linked to the protests. With this tactic, GD is aiming at a chilling effect to discourage others from protesting.<\/p>\n

Thirdly,<\/em> GD uses legis\u00adlation modeled on statutes from Western countries to attack civil society and independent media. GD parliament recently created its own cut and paste version of the US Foreign Agents Regis\u00adtration Act (FARA), and it copied copiously from a UK law on media and disin\u00adfor\u00admation. In copying FARA, GD aims to silence critics with the argument that it is following the Western path and best practice. This is far from the case, though: the Georgian legis\u00adlation is being used to drive CSOs into a corner and is being wielded in a reality very different from that of its model. The objective of FARA, enacted in the US 80 years ago, was to counter Soviet and Nazi influence in the United States. The GD is using its cloned version to counter the influence of the USA and EU, which are the most prominent donors of civil society organizations.<\/p>\n

Through the enactment of UK-style media law provi\u00adsions, the GD first gave a quasi-independent state agency \u2013 the Commu\u00adni\u00adcation Commission, which, like many other state agencies, serves the interest of the Georgia Dream \u2013 the right to impose fines and, later, to silence the critical media in Georgia. Unlike the case in the UK, it makes no sense for media outlets to take the Commu\u00adni\u00adcation Commission to court, since the courts in Georgia have already been captured by Georgian Dream.<\/p>\n

GD is also laying the groundwork for the promotion of the work of government-supported non-govern\u00admental organi\u00adza\u00adtions, a.k.a. GONGOs. The GD parliament passed a law creating the State Grants Management Agency for this purpose. With an annual budget of GEL 20 million (app. EUR 7 million), SGMA will provide funding to NGOs that work on less polit\u00adi\u00adcally sensitive issues, not those that seek to document GD short\u00adcomings and are regis\u00adtered in the foreign agents\u2019 registry.<\/p>\n

GD has signif\u00adi\u00adcantly benefited from the US Presi\u00addent\u2019s decision to suspend the work of USAID and NED. Both used to be prominent donors to Georgian civil society organi\u00adza\u00adtions. The decision started a clock ticking for most of the CSOS operating in Georgia. Since EU support is also on hold, CSOs are facing existential threats.<\/p>\n

GD is not about to ease up; it will ensure the passing of further legis\u00adlation strength\u00adening author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adanism in the country. Civil society organi\u00adza\u00adtions and activists are in dire straits. There are four ways civils society organ\u00adi\u00adsa\u00adtions \/\u200bactivists could react in this new environment: they could keep on fighting despite the risks, either be severely fined or imprisoned, abandon their civil activism and switch to other jobs, leave Georgia and work from abroad or register as foreign agents thus bringing reputation damage. Georgia may be facing another wave of brain drain. This may mean that there will soon no longer be agents of change on the ground in Georgia, that the only voices heard in the public arena are of those who benefit from the GD rule. If this occurs, the upcoming local elections scheduled in October 2025 will be a mere formality.<\/p>\n

One ought not assume that GD has reached the limits of oppression. It is quite possible that it will follow the lead of the author\u00adities in Tajik\u00adistan, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan and impose severe internet censorship and restric\u00adtions on freedom. This would enable GD to block websites more swiftly, centralize control and curb civil liberties. It might also tackle the univer\u00adsities, which remain islands of freedom of expression and critical thinking.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

It turns out that Bidzina Ivanishvili meant what he said in April 2024. He is now trans\u00adlating those words into deeds and entirely elimi\u00adnating anything that might oppose his rule. The clock is ticking for Georgian civil society, which was long at the forefront of the country\u2019s Europeanization process. One thing the European Union can do is continue their efforts to isolate Georgia Dream officials (e.g. not inviting them to the upcoming European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania, on May 16, or the next one in Denmark on October 2). EU and EU member states should also help those who want to leave the country by offering various schol\u00adar\u00adships, intern\u00adships and temporary relocation programs. It is crucial to support those who want to keep working from abroad and ensure that they can easily enter and\/\u200bor acquire a residence permit in the EU Member states. EU has also sped up shifting EUR 120 million in support from the state to the CSOs and reviewing its operation guide\u00adlines for recip\u00adients of EU grants.<\/p>\n

\"Textende\"<\/h3>\n

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