Several thousand Georgians protested in Tbilisi today in a second rally, again demanding the withdrawal of the proposed "foreign influence" law, which is said to be inspired by a similar "foreign agent" law in Russia and aimed at silencing the opposition.
Waving European and Georgian flags, around 10.000 people gathered in central Tbilisi for a walk dubbed the "European March" to parliament.
The text of the law already caused one protest on April 15.
The ruling party "Georgian Dream" announced at the beginning of April the return to the procedure of that controversial law, the first version of which was abandoned after large protests in March 2023. At that time, citizens and critics of the government assessed that the law was inspired by a similar law in Russia, directed against critics of the government, and that it represented "murder of freedom."
Today's meeting was organized at the invitation of human rights groups and opposition parties, which until now have been on the sidelines in the struggle that mainly mobilized young people.
"That law, like this government, is not in line with Georgia's historic choice to be a member of the European Union (EU)," Nika Gvarami, leader of the opposition party Ahali, who was at the rally, told AFP.
Georgia, a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, made a pro-Western turn two decades ago, an orientation long supported by former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is now in prison.
For years, that country has had the ambition to deepen its relations with the West, but the opposition now accuses the ruling party of wanting, on the contrary, to bring the former Soviet republic closer to Russia.
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