At the “general meeting" organized by Georgian Dream in support of the Russian Law, the Tbilisi mayor and the ruling party’s general secretary, Kakha Kaladze, made anti-Western statements, targeting civil society.
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"The past few weeks have once again confirmed and shown us that more than 90% of the funds allocated to NGOs serve to strengthen the agency in Georgia. It turned out that even the largest part of the funds, which were allegedly used for agriculture, care for disabled people, or the Caucasian house, were not spent in “vain”.
As soon as they needed to, they brought all these "NGOs" together and opposed national interests.
...They assure us that "NGOs" have the right to try to organize as many revolutions as they want in Georgia, and we don't even have to ask about the origin of their money.
If they plan another revolution, it seems that the Georgian people shouldn't even know where the funds come from or who is financing the said revolution.
They directly tell us Georgians that we have nothing to do with them and we have no right to know who is financing pseudo-liberal propaganda in our country, attacks on the Orthodox Church, drug propaganda, radicalism, and constant attempts to destroy the country. They tell us that the Georgian people should not know this, but we will not allow it under any circumstances.
Our current struggle to pass laws on NGOs and LGBT propaganda is not just about passing two laws. This is a decisive battle to protect the sovereignty, national identity, and interests of Georgia.
I want everyone to know one thing, both inside the country and outside the country - Georgia will never be anyone's vassal. ...We will prove to everyone, absolutely everyone, that Georgia deserves independence and sovereignty, without which all state tasks lose all value," Kaladze said.
On April 3, 2024, Georgian Dream once again initiated the Russian Law on so-called Foreign Agents in parliament. This law had been withdrawn a year ago following thousands of protests, with a promise never to accept it again. The Russian Law requires independent media and non-governmental organizations that operate with grant support from international funds and cannot be controlled by the government or related groups to register as Foreign Agents. More than 150 non-governmental and media organizations issued a statement declaring that they will not register in the "defamation register" under any circumstances.
Since April 15, mass protests have been held in Tbilisi every day, with tens of thousands of people participating in yesterday's demonstration. Georgian Dream announced a recruitment drive on April 22, specifically targeting people employed in budgetary organizations from all regions of Georgia.
