Georgia
Why Georgia’s ruling party is pushing for the foreign agent law—and how the West should respond
On May 14, the Georgian parliament passed a controversial “foreign agent” law during its third and final hearing. The legislation would require organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from other countries to register as “organizations serving the interests of a foreign power.” The bill has prompted fierce backlash from critics who argue that it is intended to crack down on opposition to the ruling party and align Georgia closer to Russia and away from the West. President Salome Zurabishvili plans on vetoing the bill, but the parliament can override her veto. Large, ongoing protests in Tbilisi have revealed how unpopular this foreign agent legislation is. So, why is the ruling Georgian Dream party still pushing it forward? And how should the West respond if the bill passes into law?
Electoral advantage
Georgian Dream stands to benefit from the adoption of the foreign agent law ahead of parliamentary elections in October. Civil society in Georgia has historically exerted a significant influence on the country’s politics. For example, it played a pivotal role in the 2012 elections by contributing to voter education and election monitoring.
However, the main vulnerability that Georgian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations face is financial reliance on international donors. Civil society organizations in Georgia receive more than 90 percent of funding from foreign sources, according to a 2020 report. Targeting their funding streams right before the elections seems to be a logical step for a ruling party that intends to eliminate influential and potentially opposing voices before the elections.
But many argue that Georgian Dream could win the October parliamentary elections without this legislation. After all, the ruling party is ahead in the polls and there have been reports that Georgian Dream has been leveraging administrative power to influence the elections. Extreme divisions have made it almost impossible for the Georgian opposition parties to form a coalition that could counter Georgian Dream. If anything, by introducing the foreign agent bill, Georgian Dream has united the opposition as well as the broader population in defense of Georgia’s European future.
Why, then, did Georgian Dream decide to move forward with this unpopular bill, knowing all too well it would trigger protests and antigovernment narratives just a few months before the elections?
Ivanishvili’s influence
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the richest man in Georgia and the founder and honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, could be key to understanding why the party took this self-destructive step. He exerts exceptional influence on the government’s decisions and actions.
Ivanishvili delivered a speech on April 29, during which he defined NGOs as agents nurtured by a global force that, in his telling, is responsible for getting Georgia and Ukraine into wars with Russia. He believes that the introduction of the foreign agent law ahead of the elections was necessary because NGOs were trying to change electoral laws, acting in the interest of the “global party of war,” which, he believes, intends to engineer a revolution in Georgia.
The combination of Ivanishvili’s views and a ruling party that executes his every decision with no questions asked is putting the Georgian people’s safety and future at risk. A sensible and nuanced Western response is needed to support the Georgian people.
The regional trend
The adoption of the Russian-style foreign agent law seems to be a regional trend, not just a Georgian phenomenon. Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia all started actively pushing for foreign agent laws in 2023. Hungary implemented foreign agent legislation in December 2023, and Kyrgyzstan adopted its own in April 2024.
Three states in Eastern Europe and Eurasia pushing to adopt Russian-style foreign agent laws almost at the same time might not be a coincidence. It is possible Russia is inspiring or even pressuring the ruling parties. After all, Moscow’s influence in these countries would likely increase if the NGOs and civil society organizations in these countries were to lose funding from international donors.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has defended Georgian Dream’s reintroduction of the foreign agent law and stated that it is in Moscow’s interests that the situation in Georgia is “stable and predictable.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has also reaffirmed ties with Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and claimed that Russian-Kyrgyz relations are developing in all directions.
The European Union (EU) has already launched legal action against Hungary in response to the introduction of this law. But Georgia and Kyrgyzstan are not EU member states, and so the same legal route is not available.
What the West should and should not do
It is crucial for the international community—especially the EU, the United States, and the United Kingdom—to support the will of the Georgian people. This means aiding Georgia’s pro-European president in her challenge to the ruling party’s actions. It also means seeking accountability for the ruling class that defies the will of its people and is impeding Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, a goal that is written into Georgia’s constitution.
The EU should reconsider measures that could harm the Georgian population, such as the potential suspension of current visa-free travel. It would not help the situation to punish the wider Georgian population for the ruling party’s actions.
The international community and donors must continue their support for civil society organizations in Georgia, especially in the lead-up to the October elections. Despite the legal ramifications of the new bill and the anticipated crackdown on the civil society sector, sustaining funding streams is crucial for bolstering civil society’s monitoring capacity. This is vital for ensuring transparent and fair electoral processes in October and providing Georgia with an opportunity for another peaceful transition of power.
The many EU and Georgian flags carried through the streets of Tbilisi in recent weeks make clear where most Georgians’ view their future. The West must do what it can to help keep them headed in that direction.
Maia Nikoladze is the assistant director at the Economic Statecraft Initiative within the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. Follow her at @Mai_Nikoladze.
Ana Lejava is a policy associate at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and a former Young Ambassador of Georgia to the United States. Follow her at @AnaLejava.
Further reading
Mon, Apr 19, 2021
Fighting for the hearts and minds of Sakartvelo: The Georgian information environment during the 2020 parliamentary election
Report
By
Eto Buziashvili, Givi Gigitashvili, Sopo Gelava, Graham Brookie, Andy Carvin, Iain Robertson, Zarine Kharazian
A technical analysis of how various online actors, both foreign and domestic, attempted to manipulate public opinion and influence the recent Georgian parliamentary election results.
Image: Demonstrators hold a rally to protest against a bill on “foreign agents”, near Georgian Parliament building, in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 13, 2024. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Revenue will begin issuing tax rebate payments in early May to residents across the state.
Millions of dollars headed to Georgia taxpayers
What we know:
The state is distributing $1.2 billion in cash from a $14 billion surplus. According to the Georgia Department of Revenue, single filers will receive $250, while heads of households will get $375. Married couples filing jointly are set to receive $500. Governor Brian Kemp signed off on these rebates in March, marking the fourth year the state has returned cash to the people.
To be eligible for the money, you must have paid taxes during the qualifying years. Most people should see the funds arrive as early as May 1. The money will be delivered the same way you received your tax refund, which for most Georgians is through a check in the mail or a direct deposit.
What we don’t know:
While the state says payments begin in early May, the specific date an individual taxpayer can expect to see their funds in their bank account or mailbox is not yet clear.
Expert advice on using your rebate
What they’re saying:
Professor Usha Rackliffe of Emory University’s Goizuetta Business School says taxpayers should use the money mindfully. “This is not life-changing money,” Rackliffe said. “But it’s still amazing. You have to treat it like found money.” She suggests splitting the cash into two “buckets”: one to pay your future self by handling high-interest debt or investing, and another to pay your current self by doing something fun, like going to dinner or the movies.
Tracking your rebate status
What you can do:
If you want to track your payment, you can check the status of your cash on the state’s website.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a broadcast script featuring an interview with Professor Usha Rackliffe of Emory University’s Goizuetta Business School, as well as announcements from the Georgia Department of Revenue and Governor Brian Kemp.
Every April since 1922, the whole town of Thomasville turns out for the Rose Show and Festival, with flower floats rolling past the 1858 courthouse, classic cars lining the square, and local chefs sneaking rose petals into cupcakes and cocktails. On the second Saturday of every month, the arts center throws its doors open for free. The 345-year-old Big Oak in Elizabeth Ireland Poe Park has a gazebo beneath it where people gather to sit, talk, and take each other’s picture (the camera mounted on a phone pole across the street will email it to you for free). Thomasville makes a strong case as the friendliest little town in Georgia, and the case rests on how much of life here happens together.
Downtown Thomasville
Downtown Thomasville turns on the Thomas County Historic Courthouse, an 1858 Greek Revival building that anchors the central square. The courthouse plays its biggest role each April during the Rose Show and Festival, a two-day community gathering that sets the social calendar for the year. The festival’s signature events run on volunteers and neighbors recognizing each other across booths: rose displays from local growers, three additional flower shows, live music, and an artisan market where most of the vendors come from a few counties over.
The Orchids on Parade kicks the weekend off with floats from schools, clubs, churches, and small businesses. The Show and Shine Car and Truck Show fills the square with more than 100 vehicles, most of them shown by their owners, who stand around answering questions all afternoon.
The festival pulls in restaurants and shops the same way. Because roughly 90% of the roses grown locally are edible, businesses around the square work them into the menu for the weekend. Liam’s Restaurant Lounge and Cheese Shoppe, a New American spot with European leanings, mixes a Rose City Cocktail with rose water and vodka. Sweet CaCao Chocolates, which uses local ingredients across its seasonal lineup, layers vanilla cupcakes with rose petal icing and turns out vanilla-rose macarons. None of this is mandated by the festival board. It just happens, the way most things happen here, because everyone is in on it.
Historic Landmarks That Bring People Together
The Big Oak does most of the work for itself. Standing at the corner of Crawford and East Monroe Streets, the southern live oak (registered with the Live Oak Society in 1936 as the 49th member) reaches 68 feet tall, has a trunk circumference of 26.5 feet, and a limb span of more than 165 feet. It dates to around 1680, which makes it older than the town. The tree sits in Elizabeth Ireland Poe Park with a Victorian gazebo beneath it, and most days you’ll find people sitting on the bench, taking pictures, or watching strangers take pictures. A camera mounted on a telephone pole across the street will email a snapshot to anyone who calls the posted number, and that small detail is part of why people end up chatting with whoever’s there.
The Jack Hadley Black History Museum holds 4,669 artifacts of African American history, with exhibits running from slavery and the Buffalo Soldiers through Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The museum runs guided tours and educational programming designed to bring small groups through together. Scavenger hunts pull families and visitors into the same conversation, and the docents lean into that, because the museum’s whole approach is built on people processing history out loud rather than reading panels in silence.
The Thomasville History Center, founded in 1952, is one of the oldest historical societies in the state. Its main building is the historic 1923 Flowers-Roberts House, with eight buildings spread across 3.3 acres. Tours and educational programs run six days a week, all of them free, which makes the center one of the easier places in town to walk in alone and walk out having met someone.
Thomasville’s Arts Scene
The Thomasville Center for the Arts opens its galleries free of charge year-round. The work on display rotates through local, regional, and state artists across multiple media, and the center programs around community engagement deliberately. Free 2nd Saturday is the most visible piece: every second Saturday of the month, the doors open with themed activities, art stations, and hands-on crafts that draw families, retirees, and first-time visitors into the same room. There is no admission charge and no expectation that you stay for any particular length of time, which is part of why it works.
The center’s annual Due South benefit concert, held each April at the Ritz Amphitheater downtown, has run since 2012 and brings performing, visual, and culinary arts together for one evening. The Thomasville Antique Show, which celebrated its 37th year in 2026, draws exhibitors from across the country to show antiques, fine art, and contemporary design alongside design lectures and hands-on workshops.
Friendliness in Thomasville is the kind of thing the town has built infrastructure around. The Rose Show pulls in restaurants, schools, clubs, and chefs in a structure where everyone has a part. The arts center keeps the doors open without charging at the threshold. The Big Oak gives strangers a reason to stand still in the same spot for a few minutes. Each of these is a small mechanism, but stack them together and a town that knows how to talk to itself is what comes out the other side. That is the version of Georgia that Thomasville is actually selling.
The college baseball season is gearing up for the final stretch before the conference tournaments begin and then NCAA regionals. Heading into that final stretch, Georgia Tech remains the team to be beat in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets rebounded from their series loss to North Carolina by run ruling No. 5 Georgia and then sweeping Wake Forest.
Georgia Tech is on top but how does the rest of the conference look?
Updated ACC Standings (as of 4/26)
1. Georgia Tech (19-5 ACC, 36-7 Overall)
2. North Carolina (17-7, 36-8-1)
3. Boston College (33-14 overall, 16-8 ACC)
4. Miami (32-12, 12-9)
5. Florida State (12-9, 29-14)
6. Virginia (29-16, 12-12)
7. Pittsburgh (28-14, 10-11)
8. NC State (27-16, 10-11)
9. Louisville (26-18, 10-11)
10. Stanford (21-19, 10-11)
11. Wake Forest (28-17, 11-13)
12. Virginia Tech (22-20, 11-13)
13. Duke (23-23, 9-15)
14. California (22-20, 7-14)
15. Notre Dame (19-20, 8-16)
16, Clemson (26-19, 6-15)
Convincing sweep
It was not always pretty, as Georgia Tech trailed early in every game of this series, but they were able to overcome that and get the sweep at home agianst a Wake Forest team that had been playing well.
The Yellow Jackets have swept four ACC series this season for the first time since 2011 and three-straight home ACC series for the first time since 1997.
The Jackets secured their 7th overall series sweep of the season, the most since 2010, still with three more weekend series on the schedule.
GT has won 13 straight home games for the first time since 2010 (17 straight) and has won 14 straight games in the state of Georgia.
The Jackets are 25-2 at Mac Nease Baseball Park this season, the best 27-game home record since 2002.
Drew Burress recorded his fifth straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a two-run HR, a single and a walk. His five-game streak with multiple hits matches the longest such streak of his career as he extends his hit streak to six games.
He hit his eighth HR of the season in the first inning, it was his 52nd career home run, tying him with Andy Bruce (1988-91) for the 4th most in program history. He is now three homers away from tying Tony Plagman (2007-10) for the third-most and five away from Jason Varitek’s record (57) set back in 1994.
He has scored 59 runs this season, the most on the team. Burress has scored 209 runs over his career, the 10th most in program history and four away from Tony Plagman (2007-10) for the ninth most.
Burress has now delivered 63 hits this season, the second most on the team behind only Advincula.
This was his 21st multi-hit game of the season, tied for the second most on the team, behind Advincula’s 26.
Up next for Georgia Tech is a midweek contest at Kennesaw State and then a home series against Xavier.
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