Georgia received candidate status to join the EU in December 2023, but the European Union has frozen the accession process due to increased anti-Western rhetoric by Georgian Dream and the passing of a controversial “foreign influence” law in June 2024.
It was a law that brought tens of thousands of young Georgian protesters onto the streets in the spring. The law requires media and civil society groups funded from abroad to register as acting in the interest of a foreign power. Protesters saw it as a threat to the country’s democracy and its future in Europe.
Critics say it was inspired by a Russian law used to crush dissent.
Georgia’s most powerful man, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, has promised to outlaw opposition groups if Georgian Dream wins. He founded the party and is currently the honorary chairman.
He lumps all the opposition groups together as a collective United National Movement, or UNM, the name of Georgia’s largest opposition party.
“Today, the collective UNM supported from abroad is trying to come to power through unrest and get this country entangled in war and chaos,” Ivanishvili told supporters in Batumi on 10 October.
“This is to end once and for all. This is why Georgia needs the ruling party to win a constitutional majority in the 26 October elections.”
The risk of war and other “threats” feature prominently in pro-government media.
These include the idea that Europe wants to make Georgian men gay, or that an army of “foreign agents” from the country’s vibrant civil society and free media are part of a Western “Global War Party” conspiracy to foment revolution.
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Publish date : 2024-10-15 22:05:00
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