The parliamentary majority's plan to attempt once again to pass the draft law known as the 'Russian law' poses a dual threat: it endangers the stability and functioning of civil society, while also jeopardizing Georgia's EU accession process.

As the leader of the parliamentary majority, Mamuka Mdinaradze, said at a briefing held on April 3, the decision was made after consultation with the political council of the ruling party. According to his own statement, the draft law would be submitted to the parliament with practically unchanged text, but instead of the term ‘agent of foreign influence, the new version of the draft law would use ‘organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power’. On the same day, the ‘Georgian Dream’ submitted the draft law to the parliament.

According to the parliamentary majority leader, "the civil sector remains the most non-transparent sector in Georgia" and non-governmental organizations are involved in implementing "revolutionary scenarios" and financing extremism. According to him, NGOs are conducting a Soviet-style campaign against the independence of the judiciary, spreading pseudo-liberal ideology, attempting to undermine public trust in the Georgian Orthodox Church, and engaging in actions against the country's energy independence, as well as what he terms 'LGBT' propaganda. Additionally, he accuses civil society organizations of attempting to manipulate election outcomes and of waging a covert war against Russia.

According to Mdinaradze, this law will ‘in the long term’ prevent attempts to artificially incite unrest in Georgia.

It is noteworthy that the decision of the parliamentary majority to re-submit the initiative to the parliament followed statements made by the ruling party and representatives of the executive government in recent weeks. During these statements, so-called civil society organizations were accused of discrediting the judicial system by advocating for the ‘vetting system’ and engaging in LGBTQ+ propaganda.

Considering the well-known events of March 2023 and the subsequent developments, the initiation and potential approval of the mentioned draft law will harm the civil space, resulting in:

Disruptions in the functioning and activities of civil society and its individual members;

Activation of hostile rhetoric and discredit campaigns directed against the civil sector; •Reduction or complete elimination of opportunities for cooperation between the state and civil society organizations; 

Hindrance of the capacity of civil society organizations to advocate for and provide services, especially to vulnerable groups.

Furthermore, the mentioned initiative and the consequent restriction of civil space will exacerbate the situation regarding human rights protection in Georgia.

It is important to note that with the upcoming parliamentary elections of 2024 in mind, the submission of the draft law to parliament further exacerbates the level of polarization in the country, thereby negatively affecting the state of democracy.

It is essential to recognize that the potential approval of the draft law could hinder the progress of implementing the nine steps necessary for Georgia to start negotiations to join the European Union. It is imperative to consider the negative evaluations from various European Union structures last year, when the law was first initiated and supported in its initial reading. According to these assessments, the law was incompatible with EU values and standards and contradicted Georgia's stated goal of becoming part of the Union. Also, the final adoption of the law would have a serious impact on the relations between the European Union and Georgia. It is additionally noteworthy that the press spokesperson of the EU High Representative has expressed serious concern over the ruling party's announcement regarding the reintroduction of the draft law on ‘transparency of foreign influence’.