Claiming a need to reinforce state sovereignty, Georgia’s authoritarian leadership is taking new steps to cut off revenue streams to the country’s non-profit and independent media sectors. 

Under amendments drafted by the ruling Georgian Dream party, and pending in the rubber-stamp parliament, international donors will need prior approval from a government regulatory agency before awarding grants to local organizations. In effect, the draft legislation would make the government a gatekeeper, its provisions giving authorities wide discretion to deny funds to organizations that monitor and/or challenge government policies or otherwise engage in work that strives to hold officials accountable for their actions.

The pending legislation is part of a series of recent parliamentary steps to stifle watchdog activities, building on a law adopted in February to tighten oversight of the non-governmental sector, as well as augmenting legislation requiring individuals and non-profit organizations that receive a majority of funding from abroad to register as foreign agents. 

Georgian Dream has long accused civil society groups and their donors of serving foreign interests “against the Georgian people and the Georgian state.” But this bill’s chilling effect would hit nearly every sector that depends on international support, raising the prospect that efforts to address public health threats and global warming challenges would suffer.

Civil society organizations issued a joint statement April 8 condemning the bill, characterizing it as “an act of persecution” under consideration by an “illegitimate parliament.”

“The purpose of this law is to turn Georgia into a closed, isolated state in which all areas of public life fall under the totalitarian-style control of the Georgian Dream party,” the statement says. “It aims to eliminate any possibility for the public to receive essential support from international partners and friends. The law also seeks to halt the work of independent media and civil society organizations that inform the public about the government’s violations of rights, corrupt deals, and the use of public office for private gain — practices that have become deeply entrenched in Georgian Dream’s rule.”

The draft law is expected to be approved soon and could take effect by the end of April. To justify the “expedited” approval process, officials claim that “given the special importance of ensuring state sovereignty,” the government needs an “effective tool” ready for immediate use.

Failure to comply with the bill’s regulations could result in steep penalties, including fines up to double the grant amount. If an organization cannot or will not pay a fine, its bank accounts can be seized. 

The bill poses a serious threat to critical online media in Georgia, most of which rely on international donors. With recent changes in the global funding landscape, in particular the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, already straining the sector, these new government measures could deliver a death blow to independent voices.

Meanwhile, the Georgian Dream government is steadily steering away from Western integration and aligning itself more closely with Russia. On April 11, at a diplomatic gathering in Turkey, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that Georgian Dream is “following a very peaceful vision” with Russia. He later met with fellow authoritarian-leaning leaders, including Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev.

At the same time, the arrival of spring in Georgia seems to be breathing fresh life into anti-government protests in Tbilisi and elsewhere. The protests have drawn strength from powerful historical memories, especially the April 9 tragedy, when Soviet troops cracked down on a pro-independence rally in Tbilisi in 1989. Commemorative events offered a stark reminder of Georgia’s long struggle against Russian domination.

The expansion of government restrictions on civil society organizations is also helping to re-stoke the protest movement. “When state institutions have been turned into party appendages, civil solidarity and activism remain the only means of protecting individuals,” said the April 8 statement.