2023 Georgian protests

As of January 2021, Georgia and Ukraine were preparing to formally apply for EU membership in 2024 to join the European Union in the 2030s.[9][10][11] However, amid the 2022 escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova jointly applied for EU membership in February and March 2022.[12][13]

On 9 June 2022, the European Parliament issued a six-page resolution accusing the government of Georgia of eroding press freedom in the country. It also recommended the European Union to sanction the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili for "his role in the deterioration of the political process in Georgia."[14]

On 23 June 2022, the European Council granted Ukraine and Moldova the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union.[15] However, it deferred giving candidate status to Georgia until certain conditions were met.[16] The European Council expressed readiness to grant Georgia the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union after a set of recommended reforms.[15]

On 28 June 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe published a declaration, in which they have said that the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili had to be treated immediately in a special institution abroad.[17] Saakashvili, who left Georgia in 2013 and was condemned by the Tbilisi City Court to six years in prison in absentia for abuse of power, embezzlement, and his implication in the attempted murder of an opposition MP,[18] announced his return to Georgia on 1 October 2021, on the eve of the local elections.[19] He was later arrested in Tbilisi.[20] According to the investigation, Saakashvili entered the country secretly, hiding in a semi-trailer truck loaded with milk products. He illegally crossed the state border of Georgia, bypassing the customs control.[21] He was placed in Rustavi prison and announced a hunger strike to protest his arrest. His personal doctor asked authorities to move him to a hospital as he continued with his hunger strike as his health condition had allegedly worsened since the arrest.

On 14 December 2022, the European Parliament again called the European Council to sanction Ivanishvili, accusing him of deteriorating the democratic political process in Georgia, while calling the Georgian government to release Saakashvili on medical grounds to be treated abroad.[22]

On 14 February 2023, the European Parliament adopted a third non-binding resolution, accusing the Georgian government and Bidzina Ivanishvili of mistreating Mikheil Saakashvili in prison, once again calling for his release from prison and personal sanctions on Ivanishvili.[23]

The Georgian Dream party criticized the resolutions. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili called the resolutions "irresponsible and offensive towards our people".[24][25] Georgian Dream parliamentarian Dimitri Khundadze questioned Georgia's policy of EU membership, saying, "We won't give up our dignity to get [candidate] status! [...] No one will intimidate Bidzina Ivanishvili or the Georgian state with threats of sanctions!".[26][27][28]

In June-July 2022, following the EU's refusal to grant Georgia the candidate status, a series of protests was organized by a group of Western-funded NGOs, who blamed the Georgian government for the failure to receive the status and demanded it to handle its power to a "interim technical government" composed of NGO activists, threatening more protests.[29] On June 24, secret video recordings were released involving several NGO leaders discussing the violent overthrow of government.[30]

On 2 August 2022, Georgian MPs Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Dimitri Khundadze left the ruling Georgian Dream and established the People's Power movement. According to the MPs, their goal was to speak up and expose the truth "hidden behind the scenes of Georgian politics".[31][32] Members of People's Power published a number of public letters accusing the United States and European Union of trying to overthrow the Georgian government. The movement has notably criticized the United States foreign policy in Georgia. Its members have questioned US funding for Georgia, saying that it only served to strengthen American interests in Georgia at the expense of Georgia's state institutions and sovereignty.[33] The People's Power movement has accused the United States and European Union of interfering in the country's internal affairs and undermining the Georgian judiciary.[34] Judicial reforms were among the 12 requests made by the European Union for Georgia to get the EU candidate status, although according to People's Power, the proposal was aimed at "subjugating the Georgian judiciary to foreign control".[35] The movement has accused a number of Georgian political parties (including the largest opposition party United National Movement, led by Mikheil Saakashvili) and NGOs of being "American agents".[36] According to the People's Power movement, Saakashvili illegally returned to Georgia to stage a coup, and was supported in his endeavor by the United States and MEPs. The members of People's Power further elaborated that the United States Embassy in Georgia was working to drag the country into the Russo-Ukrainian War, and that the Georgian government and Ivanishvili were punished by the European Parliament for the peaceful policy and refusal to open a "second front" against Russia in Georgia. Georgian Dream disapproved of this criticism of the US involvement in Georgia, with Irakli Garibashvili saying that the United States and European Union are Georgia's "strategic partners".[37] Meanwhile six other deputies joined the movement from the Georgian Dream, depriving it of its parliamentary majority.[38] At the same time, the nine members of the People's Power movement in parliament decided to remain in the ruling majority, supporting the government of Irakli Garibashvili. The Georgian Dream chairperson Irakli Kobakhidze pledged to cooperate with People's Power on key issues.[39][40][41]

On 29 December, the People's Power movement has expressed its intention to draft a foreign agent law to curb the foreign influence in the country. On 15 February 2023, the draft "Law On Transparency of Foreign Influence" was submitted to Georgian Parliament.[42]

On 6 March 2023, a fight broke out between parliamentary deputies of the ruling coalition and the opposition during the Legal Affairs Committee hearing on the draft laws. Deputies from the National Movement and Strategy Aghmashenebeli opposition parties were expelled from the chamber to restore the order. The protests were held in front of the Parliament building calling the deputies to vote down the bills.[51]

On 7 March 2023, the parliament adopted a proposed "Law On Transparency of Foreign Influence" in the first reading, with 76 votes to 13.[52] The protests were organized in front of the Parliament of Georgia, which later turned violent as the protesters tried to storm the building and threw molotov cocktails at law enforcement.[53] Police officers responded by using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters and restore the order.[7][54]

On 8 March 2023, tens of thousands of people protested in front of the parliament building, calling the parliament to suspend further discussions on the foreign agents law.[55] Strategy Aghmashenebeli leader Giorgi Vashadze presented an ultimatum to parliament: reject the bills and release everyone who was detained on March 7.[29]

On 9 March 2023, the ruling coalition announced that they would retract the bills. They said that more discussions with the public were required to convince the society of the importance of the legislation.[56][57]

The Interior Ministry announced later that day that all persons arrested on administrative charges on 7 and 8 March have been released.[58]

On 10 March 2023, one of the two bills was withdrawn by the ruling coalition, while the other was defeated in a formal second sitting vote in Parliament, with one vote in favour, 36 votes against, and 76 abstentions.[50][43]

• Foreign funding of NGOs
• Foreign agent
• 2007 Georgian demonstrations
• 2011 Georgian protests
• 2019 Georgian protests
• 2020–2021 Georgian political crisis

• The 8th of March in Tbilisi: The "Laws Story" — Opinions of Georgian NGO leaders published by Caucasian Journal, 10 March 2023.