Georgia's "foreign agent" bill threatens to stigmatize and marginalize journalists and civil society organizations critical of the country's rulers.
Event Overview
On March 7, the Georgian parliament passed the first reading of the government’s new “foreign agent” bill, prompting thousands of Georgian citizens to face off against riot police in defense of the country’s democratic freedoms and Euro-Atlantic ambitions. The proposed law threatens to stigmatize and marginalize journalists and civil society organizations critical of the country’s rulers, which activists have found too reminiscent of Russia’s own 2012 foreign agent law, provoking the country’s most severe political crisis in years.
Speakers:
Nino Evgenidze, Executive Director, Economic Policy Research Center
Julie George, Associate Professor of Political Science, Queens College and the Graduate Center, The City University of New York
Eka Gigauri, Executive Director, Transparency International Georgia
Shota Gvineria, Nonresident Fellow, Economic Policy Research Center; Lecturer, Baltic Defence College
Moderated by:
Sasha Stone, Senior Program Officer, Democratic Resilience, Center for European Policy Analysis
