Washington Post: Young Georgians want to be part of Europe. Their government is in the way.

The Washington Post has published an opinion by the editorial board condemning Bidzina Ivanishvili’s sponsorship of the foreign agents law. Excerpt below:

Mr. Ivanishvili left no doubt about his intentions during a speech on Monday in Tbilisi. He railed against a sinister “global war party” that he said has been “appointed from outside.” He claimed it was attempting to take control of Georgia by funding nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs. He declared that the outsiders were behind the tumultuous presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, who served from 2004 to 2013, and whom the current government has imprisoned on spurious charges. According to an account of Mr. Ivanishvili’s remarks recorded by the group Civil Georgia, he also attacked NGOs as being a “pseudo elite,” adding, “They have no homeland; they do not love their country or their people because they do not really consider them to be their own. On the contrary, such people are embarrassed by their country and its people.”

This description of NGOs is twisted and false, but hardly original. Ever since Mr. Putin used Russia’s law to crack down on independent civil society, at least 60 nations have passed or drafted laws designed to restrict NGOs, and 96 carried out other policies curtailing them, imposing cumbersome registration requirements, intrusive monitoring, harassment and shutdowns. The laws were largely borrowed from Russia, their details documented in the Civic Freedom Monitor of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law.

Georgia’s opposition recognized that the “foreign agent” law could easily become a roadblock to the country’s accession to the European Union and NATO. In December, Georgia was given candidate status for E.U. membership, but to acquire full membership, Georgia needs to demonstrate a clear commitment to the bloc’s values and reform. The E.U. emphasized that “proper functioning of democratic institutions and reforms related to justice and the rule of law are a priority” for Georgia.