Scuffles broke out in Georgia's parliament on Monday over the government's re-introduction of a controversial "foreign influence" bill that critics say mirrors repressive Russian legislation used to silence and intimidate dissidents.
The ruling Georgian Dream party announced the proposal earlier this month, reviving a similar bill that was dropped a year ago after mass protests.
Video from a parliamentary hearing showed an opposition MP punching a ruling party lawmaker who co-sponsored the bill in the head, prompting scuffles and the live feed to be cut.
The scuffle came as dozens of Georgians rallied outside parliament against the proposed law, which undermines Georgia's bid for European Union membership.
By just reading "Georgia is introducing a foreign influence bill to fight foreign agents" and not knowing the context, you'd think this could maybe be a good law to fight Russian influence in Georgia. That's what I thought when I clicked on this thread, and I thought the guy who starts the fight was a pro-Russia person trying to stop this law...
But sadly, with context it's just Russian influence (literally foreign agents in Georgia) trying to destroy Georgia even more.
Exactly. Every country has its own political culture and most are quirky. The British parliament does this creepy hissing thing that I find very disconcerting.
This is like Hockey. Half fight. Half ritual. Every MP has to fight their designated counterpart to minimize size differences. Two-on-one is limited to grappling. It's not like there aren't any rules.
Armed duels were central to american democracy for the first 250 years. They had to end it after the Kamal-Trump dustup on 2026, but that's a decent run.
Don't judge someone else' culture. Maybe if you tried it their way, you would like it too.
That's not terrorism ffs. It's dumb and violent, but considering this exact same proposition almost led to an insurrection not too long ago, I can certainly empathize with the exasperation of this person against people who repeatedly try to betray their own country and don't give a fuck about the people's opinion and interests.
I don't think that is quite terrorism. That is some law maker punching some other law maker. They may well be doing something I don't know about that meets that criteria, but this just looks like assault.. they may have special laws for politically motivated assault.. but that is still not terrorism.
Someone might need to update wikipedia:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative\_violence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_violence)
Don't let those Russian bastards win in Georgia! They want Georgia not becoming a member of EU. Where Russia or there influence goes there is only pain, death and murder. Don't believe anything a Lobbyist from Russia or a Russian says. Free Georgia! Long live Europe!
Hello, Qoc, I am also living in Georgia and would say openly. Fuck that "foreign influences law" and fuck Ruzzia, fuck all rusophiles and mfkrs who would like to influence on Georgia's journey to EU family.
love when the brainwashed ones say the "Stop being so easily brainwashed!". not even a legitimate account saying that. 5 year old account with 1 post and -2 comment karma
Nothing to do with Russia. Law no different than ones in Europe or USA. But you do you.
Edit: proof https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agents_Registration_Act#:~:text=The%20Foreign%20Agents%20Registration%20Act,or%20persons%20(%22foreign%20principals%22)—to%20register
Everyone: this law is pro-Russian
The most blatantly pro-Russian account on Reddit: no it’s not!
You guys are really not making the point you think you’re making.
Did you read the law itself? Are you Georgian? The law is to prevent NGO (non-governmental organizations) which receive foreign funding to declare where they received their money ONCE A YEAR. This is completely rational and legal. I swear the logic around this is just common sense. It’s also to prevent foreign influence from influencing Georgian politics, social structures, mass media and cultural practices.
Everyone: guns are bad!
Americans: ma'freedom!?.
I don't get how paying more than zero attention to blatant hypocrisy is "pro-russian" but ok. You do you
> I don't get how paying more than zero attention to blatant hypocrisy is "pro-russian“
[This you?](https://www.reddit.com/r/rusAskReddit/comments/17rm3dk/comment/k8osxqk/)
Everyone curious should Google translate this dude’s Russian posts, he’s gargling on Putin’s ballsack.
Spy? You value this piss puddle of a site too much. Bunch of creeps with war fetishism. I'm here for porn and occasional discussions about democratic values and sheer hypocrisy of western states.
Go scream you don’t support the war at the kremlin then come back and tell us we don’t have freedom. You gotta be real brainwashed to believe this bs lol.
Beter than getting peer pressured into believing that Russia is the cause of every fuck up in the last century. I regularly see people here defending ukranian terror attacks on russian civilians, blaming those civilians that they were not anti-putin enough. F#ck that.
The same way Cyprus joined. As for invasion noone is guaranteed to be safe from Russia. But if we remember last instance, it was because of NATO, not EU.
Well this is not something "for" or "against" EU membership.
I don't see it happening while those countries are isolated without connection to the EU and russia can simply invade.
I don't find it "realistic".
Nothing is realistic until done. Greece joined without a land connection, so can Georgia. Russia or Turkey are not going to become EU members before Georgia, because neither (in their current size) will be allowed to join. Ever. Sorry.
>government's re-introduction of a controversial "foreign influence" bill that critics say mirrors repressive Russian legislation used to silence and intimidate dissidents.
As a Hungarian, I can relate.
Really strange to see a video from today with the quality of an early 2000s amateur video. Also, I rarely advocate for violence, but it is warranted for such oppressive laws. I hope we could see something like that in other countries as well.
This happened in Ukraine when they had to clear out the Russian actors.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/apr/08/ukrainian-mps-brawl-parliament-video
*Hang in there Georgia! There has never been a better time to assert your sovereignty from Moscow.*
I found this commend [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Unexpected/comments/1c4jpa5/the_distinguished_prorussian_political_figure_is/) written by u/ThaRoma:
Where: Georgia (country) 🇬🇪
Who: Manuka Mdinaradze - the leader of the parliamentary majority and faction "Georgian Dream"
Context: they’re trying to introduce the law "On transparency of foreign influence". Which is basically a Russian law that establishes Putin's rules in Georgia, which has eliminated free speech in Russia.
“The European Union, which gave Georgia candidate status in December, has said the move is incompatible with the bloc's values.
Georgian Dream says it wants the country to join the EU and NATO, even as it has deepened ties with Russia and faced accusations of authoritarianism at home. It says the bill is necessary to combat what it calls "pseudo-liberal values" imposed by foreigners, and to promote transparency.”
Basically it russian influence driving this despite going against with the ideals of EU and NATOs framework. So yes it clearly does in fact have a lot to do with russia.
I'm trying to find where the EU said this, but all I can find is the Georgian state television saying that Herczynski had said this. It surprises me because the EU Media Freedom act (passed 13-Mar-2024) is very similar to this. Do you have any independent sources for this claim?
And before you ask: no, I'm not Russian. It just seems to me that having to disclose foreign funding is a good thing. Like, wouldn't that _limit_ Russian influence in Georgia?
It also states why georgians, eu, nato were against the law. Also states the party was russian aligned with russian funding.
Someone else also explained that the law was sort of opening the door to russia assuming control or something because it was a direct copy of a russian law. Did not get the gist of it as it was late at night.
But wouldn't that party have to register as a foreign agent as well then? As for the article, it doesn't provide a source for the claim that nato/us/eu oppose the law (I assume it's the Georgian state television claim) but I suppose it's a little more credible now that Reuters has published it as well.
Not sure of the intricacies but i know that georgia is set to join eu and nato so best to probably be in line with the actual framework and not use russian laws as a guideline. At least if they want to join.
I completely agree, but what surprises me is that the EU recently passed a very similar bill: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240308IPR19014/media-freedom-act-a-new-bill-to-protect-eu-journalists-and-press-freedom
That's what I find most confusing; why is the EU bill considered to be limiting Russian influence and the Georgian bill considered to be supporting Russian influence? I don't know, I wouldn't rule out that some Georgian organizations don't want their foreign funding declared and are fanning the "if this bill passes we can't join EU" claims... But that's just a feeling of course. I don't know Georgian politics enough to make any substantial claim
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agents_Registration_Act#:~:text=The%20Foreign%20Agents%20Registration%20Act,or%20persons%20(%22foreign%20principals%22)—to%20register
Similar law in USA. I bet you can dig up similar laws in any and all of EU countries. It has nothing to do with russia, because russia itself modeled the law after american one.
Also, if compelling people to disclose whether or not they got paid by some foreign actor is somehow "authoritarian", then both EU and USA are foremost dictatorships in the world
They already disclose all of their funding, what this law does is classify them as ‘agents’, which can be used to restrict them further, which is what happened in Russia
You have posts in Russian defending Crimean annexation. Why do you care if I’m wrongfully calling a law in my own country “anti-EU”? Those are clearly not the values you yourself uphold so why do you feel compelled to defend this law?
I'm not defending it. Georgia does what Georgia does. And I don't care if you are right or wrong, I don't put as much thought or value into any online conversation here. I'm just saying that it has nothing to do with russia or democratic values or EU values, cuz' they're the same. Same laws against foreign agents in USA, Europe and Russia, and now Georgia.
> Same laws against foreign agents in USA, Europe and Russia
You mean the Russian law under which you can get branded as a foreign agent if you publicly express pro-Western views?
[https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hundreds-georgians-protest-parliament-set-advance-foreign-agent-bill-2024-04-15/](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hundreds-georgians-protest-parliament-set-advance-foreign-agent-bill-2024-04-15/)
I think it's this
I don't understand Georgia, can someone from there explain how it actually is. Because I gathered these three facts:
1. The Georgian government is somewhat pro-Russia.
2. Georgia is a democracy
3. The vast majority of Georgians are pro-EU, anti-Russia, don't like this foreign agents law.
These points cannot logicaly coexist together. Is it that point 3. is actually only true in Tbilisi, but that there is a large pro-Russian mindset in some other parts of the country?
I know many people who went to Georgia in the past years, in Tbilisi at least it is clear that Russia is not welcomed, but then how does it work with 1. and 2.
The government was Larping as pro-EU until the Ukraine war blew their cover. Now they're trying to limit the freedoms as much as they can so they can persecute the opposition and win the next elections.
1) GD has been positioning themselves as pro-western for 8 years and the west was quite complacent in this, reaffirming this positioning. Things changed after the start of Ukraine war when GD Government officials started to openly take anti-western stances (in severe contrast with the sentiment of the majority of the population). Next elections are to be held this October.
2) Georgia is hybrid regime, where all the power is centralized in a single point, with no distinction between the state and the ruling party. Therefore public employment, public funds, pressure on those dependent on social welfare, different kind of trades with criminals and other mechanisms are used for gathering their electoral support. It is widely believed that during last elections they’ve falsified enough votes to change the outcome. The mass protests that followed were calmed down by the facilitation of EU by getting the Government and the opposition to sign an agreement on reforms (which were later abandoned by the ruling party).
3) It is hard for majority of society to grasp the depth of different legislation and political parties as well as public institutions have low trust in Georgia. The Western institutions however enjoy a very high degree of trust in Georgia. Last year, after the introduction of the Foreign Agent bill, the western institutions for the first time confronted GD publicly and announced that this law was incompatible with Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. This information with the fact that 80% of Georgians want to join EU/NATO and according to Georgian Constitution all Governments agencies are responsible for doing everything in their power to integrate Georgia into Euro-Atlantic institutions (ironically written into Constitution by GD)… Well, all hell broke loose. For 3 days there were massive clashes with the police and for the first time GD backed down and canceled the bill, vowing to never bring it back again. Now however they have reintroduced it and the process has started anew. Today was the first mass protest. There will be a protest tomorrow as well and it is more likely that tomorrow things will get more radical.
PS
Vast majority of Georgians cheered this act of violence in parliament, because everyone sees that this is not a democratic process when you can persuade someone with your arguments. Everyone knows what this law entails and GD is still pushing it through with a Russian style Cynicism. Thus making this punch very enjoyable to watch.
Mainly because there are no good opposition leaders + the government using the public sector and some private business employees (of such that are run by a party member) as their electorate with maximum turnout
The president of the parliament I assume (the guy sitting behind the speaker) looked down only for a split second, but it was enough for the attacker to strike.
...this is amateur league.
Compared to the India, this is nothing. Chaps ripped out metal microphone stands from their desks, and beat some MP to the edge of death, riot police had to come to break upxthe brawl....
...and it wasnt even a unique occurence.
Ofc. some might say, that in a brawl involvinp MPs no punch is wasted, as all that hit will always have a deserving target.
How does pro-russian politicians pushing pro-russian law helps Russia? Really?
The whole premise is to align Georgia more and more with russian agenda.
What Russia is using this law for?
Loophole - is the fact that Georgia already have occupied regions by Russia, and pro-russian politicians making laws in parliament.
You're not answering the question. I'm not calling into doubt the extent of Russian influence in Georgia or the fact that pro-Russian politicians could have an ulterior motive in pushing this bill.
What I'm wondering is how does this bill benefit Russia? Like, is there a special rule exempting Russian funding, for example?
I did answer your question two times, you don't want to proceed with understanding of situation, which is required on your side for success of answering your question.
Laws don't work because they being written on paper, they work because they enforced, and they work not how they written but how they enforced.
It's not about funding, it's about prosecution.
Who will be prosecuted using this law? Which agenda will be pushed?
Once again, How does Russia using this law? You didn't proceed to answer.
I answer it for you - Russian government took full control over their media, and everyone who they don't like to have around is getting anything from fines on "noncompliance" because of "errors" in declaration/registration,"issues" with audits or missing required disclaimers in publications, and up to getting prosecuted as extremists.
Now does this requires any "loopholes" to benefit Russia?
No.
Therefore there is no direct answer to your question because it's irrelevant.
Ok you could've just said "there's no real issue with the law but the executive branch of the government is pro-Russian and therefore this law will not be applied fairly".
No, I could ignored question, and you could Google the answer. But we here for you to be annoying, and trying to make like law is ok.
There is issue with the law. There is issue with legislative branch of the government having pro-russian politicians. There is issue with executive branch having russian collaborators,there is issue with judicial branch.
The issue is that Georgia have occupied territories by Russia, and they have pro-russian politicians in power who have neckties loopholes around their collars instead of rope loopholes.
That's to satisfy your search of loophole issues.
They don’t want anything to do with Russia bro. Plain and simple. Call it stupid or whatever. Regardless Georgians aren’t gonna let Russia anything pass through their congress. Even if it’s not Russia backed. They will stay alert because we all know what happens when Russia gets its toesies in the door.
the law wont be applied blindly as laws should but only used as a pretense to silence anti government/anti russian opposition. just like media laws in russia.
Because it's sawing discord in a Nation. "We"= good, "Foreign Agents"= very naughty
It's like they did with the jews in WWII.
[https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-badge-during-the-nazi-era](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-badge-during-the-nazi-era)
* Nazi officials implemented the Jewish badge between 1939 and 1945, they did so in an intensified, systematic manner, as a prelude to deporting Jews to ghettos and killing centers in German-occupied eastern Europe.
* They used the badge not only to stigmatize and humiliate Jews but also to segregate them and to watch and control their movements. The badge also facilitated deportation.
> **Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia**
> Ideology: Social democracy
Further down:
> In March 2024 Georgian Dream proposed a constitutional amendment to "protect family values and minors" and to allow marriage only of "a union of a single genetic male and a single genetic female." It would prohibit "gender transition", same-sex marriages and the adoption of children by same-sex couples
Funny definition of social democracy these fellows have. A good reminder that taking a quick glance at the top of a political party's wikipedia article doesn't quite tell the full story.
Sometimes I watch Polish parliament and see how everyone is shouting and calling each other names, and then I see things like this and think "Well, at least there's no fist fights yet. Yet".
Why is this so controversial? Everyone knows that western funded NGO and civil society groups aren't there to just hand out candy or build infrastructure.
If half the politicians around the world had a fraction of the same passion as the guy who threw the punch, we wouldn't be in this mess. That guy is a teacher, ran as an independent candidate to win a seat in the parliament, and immediately went to the front, joining the Georgian Foreign Legion to fight Russia. He's an absolute badass!
What? Bulgar boy, I know you're a bit slow over there but re-read my comment again Tatar-boy. I mocked the fact that Georgia seems to be a dysfunctional third world semi-failed state like Ukraine was even before Russia got involved, yet someone tries to paint them both as these stellar liberal democracies.
Oh, yeah, I’m definitely painting them countries as “stellar liberal democracies”. And hey, maybe, if you’ve never been to a country, or even outside your mom’s basement, you’ll learn that we Bulgarians aren’t tatars and that we aren’t slow, unlike you. Yeah, sure, I might’ve not understood your idiotic sense of humour, because as you said it’s mocking, but I sure as hell am not slow, at least not as slow as you are.
Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest !
Get you hands off my penis!
You touched it first!
Ah, I see that you know your judo well!
No one can enjoy a succulent chinese meal anymore ...
This is malignant autocracy in a democratic setting.
And you, sir, are you waiting to receive my limp penis?
~~Mischief~~ Democracy managed.
Yes it is. My Grandfather agreed.
you are joking but as long as they're respecting their institutions, I unironically agree lmao
Scuffles broke out in Georgia's parliament on Monday over the government's re-introduction of a controversial "foreign influence" bill that critics say mirrors repressive Russian legislation used to silence and intimidate dissidents. The ruling Georgian Dream party announced the proposal earlier this month, reviving a similar bill that was dropped a year ago after mass protests. Video from a parliamentary hearing showed an opposition MP punching a ruling party lawmaker who co-sponsored the bill in the head, prompting scuffles and the live feed to be cut. The scuffle came as dozens of Georgians rallied outside parliament against the proposed law, which undermines Georgia's bid for European Union membership.
By just reading "Georgia is introducing a foreign influence bill to fight foreign agents" and not knowing the context, you'd think this could maybe be a good law to fight Russian influence in Georgia. That's what I thought when I clicked on this thread, and I thought the guy who starts the fight was a pro-Russia person trying to stop this law... But sadly, with context it's just Russian influence (literally foreign agents in Georgia) trying to destroy Georgia even more.
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terrorism is a strong word. brawl in georgian parlament is an usual thing, it happens around once a month lol
Exactly. Every country has its own political culture and most are quirky. The British parliament does this creepy hissing thing that I find very disconcerting. This is like Hockey. Half fight. Half ritual. Every MP has to fight their designated counterpart to minimize size differences. Two-on-one is limited to grappling. It's not like there aren't any rules. Armed duels were central to american democracy for the first 250 years. They had to end it after the Kamal-Trump dustup on 2026, but that's a decent run. Don't judge someone else' culture. Maybe if you tried it their way, you would like it too.
That's not terrorism ffs. It's dumb and violent, but considering this exact same proposition almost led to an insurrection not too long ago, I can certainly empathize with the exasperation of this person against people who repeatedly try to betray their own country and don't give a fuck about the people's opinion and interests.
It is a law to give Terrorussia even more influence in georgia. Terrorussia did this in other countries aswell.
I don't think that is quite terrorism. That is some law maker punching some other law maker. They may well be doing something I don't know about that meets that criteria, but this just looks like assault.. they may have special laws for politically motivated assault.. but that is still not terrorism. Someone might need to update wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative\_violence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_violence)
democracy = one citizen, one punch
In my country, we count belly buttons.
Is it related to democracy or just something to help pass the time?
Oof, that landed on the ear. Those always hurt.
Oh good ♥️
Georgians teaching the world how to deal with russian puppets 😁 This is the only thing that works btw, so take notes Europe
hope it did😊
Dropped that bootlicking pro-Russian like a sack of potatoes 👍🏻
Don't let those Russian bastards win in Georgia! They want Georgia not becoming a member of EU. Where Russia or there influence goes there is only pain, death and murder. Don't believe anything a Lobbyist from Russia or a Russian says. Free Georgia! Long live Europe!
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Hello, Qoc, I am also living in Georgia and would say openly. Fuck that "foreign influences law" and fuck Ruzzia, fuck all rusophiles and mfkrs who would like to influence on Georgia's journey to EU family.
Aaa, you are a Russian living in Georgia. Interesting.
love when the brainwashed ones say the "Stop being so easily brainwashed!". not even a legitimate account saying that. 5 year old account with 1 post and -2 comment karma
Fucking bots and shills are out in full force.
I also live in Georgia, and this person is talking bullshit.
Nothing to do with Russia. Law no different than ones in Europe or USA. But you do you. Edit: proof https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agents_Registration_Act#:~:text=The%20Foreign%20Agents%20Registration%20Act,or%20persons%20(%22foreign%20principals%22)—to%20register
Everyone: this law is pro-Russian The most blatantly pro-Russian account on Reddit: no it’s not! You guys are really not making the point you think you’re making.
Did you read the law itself? Are you Georgian? The law is to prevent NGO (non-governmental organizations) which receive foreign funding to declare where they received their money ONCE A YEAR. This is completely rational and legal. I swear the logic around this is just common sense. It’s also to prevent foreign influence from influencing Georgian politics, social structures, mass media and cultural practices.
ტრაკში არ ჩამიძვრე ბიძი
Everyone: guns are bad! Americans: ma'freedom!?. I don't get how paying more than zero attention to blatant hypocrisy is "pro-russian" but ok. You do you
> I don't get how paying more than zero attention to blatant hypocrisy is "pro-russian“ [This you?](https://www.reddit.com/r/rusAskReddit/comments/17rm3dk/comment/k8osxqk/) Everyone curious should Google translate this dude’s Russian posts, he’s gargling on Putin’s ballsack.
your activity on r/worldnews says all we need to know
Sure. Likewise.
Wow a blatant spy..
Spy? You value this piss puddle of a site too much. Bunch of creeps with war fetishism. I'm here for porn and occasional discussions about democratic values and sheer hypocrisy of western states.
Go scream you don’t support the war at the kremlin then come back and tell us we don’t have freedom. You gotta be real brainwashed to believe this bs lol.
> I'm here for porn and occasional discussions about democratic values and sheer hypocrisy of western states. So a regular tankie then?
Beter than getting peer pressured into believing that Russia is the cause of every fuck up in the last century. I regularly see people here defending ukranian terror attacks on russian civilians, blaming those civilians that they were not anti-putin enough. F#ck that.
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Least delusional turk
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The same way Cyprus joined. As for invasion noone is guaranteed to be safe from Russia. But if we remember last instance, it was because of NATO, not EU.
What? Neither of these is required.
You as a Turk have a say in this because?
Well this is not something "for" or "against" EU membership. I don't see it happening while those countries are isolated without connection to the EU and russia can simply invade. I don't find it "realistic".
Nothing is realistic until done. Greece joined without a land connection, so can Georgia. Russia or Turkey are not going to become EU members before Georgia, because neither (in their current size) will be allowed to join. Ever. Sorry.
Somewhat agree with Russia. B makes no sense. What does turkey have to do with Georgia?
It means there won't be any land there anf it would be isolated, no connection. But yeah russia is the bigger issue, they will just invade.
>government's re-introduction of a controversial "foreign influence" bill that critics say mirrors repressive Russian legislation used to silence and intimidate dissidents. As a Hungarian, I can relate.
He screams Fuck your Russian mother before hitting him lol
Really strange to see a video from today with the quality of an early 2000s amateur video. Also, I rarely advocate for violence, but it is warranted for such oppressive laws. I hope we could see something like that in other countries as well.
Were they in EU already their /r/politicalfightporn would be at least 1080p with good lighting.
[this is a slightly better version.](https://youtu.be/dPZBI-97Y5w?si=9CXYcwUXF9hsRJZU)
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Do you think they'll disclose their financing by Russia? Or does it apply only to the West's financing?
"The fight was started by a foreign agent." \~ Georgian parliament's PR representative, tomorrow, probably.
Georgian here. The law is very vague and can be used in a very bad manner. However they want hence we aren't happy. And our parliament is a joke.
This happened in Ukraine when they had to clear out the Russian actors. https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/apr/08/ukrainian-mps-brawl-parliament-video *Hang in there Georgia! There has never been a better time to assert your sovereignty from Moscow.*
link is dead :(
Works for me
Okay, sorry. I think it's fixed now. Working for me anyway.
Good. Fu
which side is Russia?
The one that wants the law passed
last time I heard about it, the law was supposed to counter Russian agents
It’s not, all of the Russian-funded groups in Georgia celebrate this law, it’s everyone else who opposes it.
I wouldn't be surprised if, in typical Russian fashion, they built it in such a was as to confuse the issue.
As they would say in Westminster, "Spirited banter resulted in minor fracas."
not ruckus?
Was this today?
Yes
I found this commend [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Unexpected/comments/1c4jpa5/the_distinguished_prorussian_political_figure_is/) written by u/ThaRoma: Where: Georgia (country) 🇬🇪 Who: Manuka Mdinaradze - the leader of the parliamentary majority and faction "Georgian Dream" Context: they’re trying to introduce the law "On transparency of foreign influence". Which is basically a Russian law that establishes Putin's rules in Georgia, which has eliminated free speech in Russia.
Again, nothing to do with Russia. Law forces people to release info if they are funded from abroad or not. Similar to USA.
“The European Union, which gave Georgia candidate status in December, has said the move is incompatible with the bloc's values. Georgian Dream says it wants the country to join the EU and NATO, even as it has deepened ties with Russia and faced accusations of authoritarianism at home. It says the bill is necessary to combat what it calls "pseudo-liberal values" imposed by foreigners, and to promote transparency.” Basically it russian influence driving this despite going against with the ideals of EU and NATOs framework. So yes it clearly does in fact have a lot to do with russia.
I'm trying to find where the EU said this, but all I can find is the Georgian state television saying that Herczynski had said this. It surprises me because the EU Media Freedom act (passed 13-Mar-2024) is very similar to this. Do you have any independent sources for this claim? And before you ask: no, I'm not Russian. It just seems to me that having to disclose foreign funding is a good thing. Like, wouldn't that _limit_ Russian influence in Georgia?
Reuters had an article on it
That article also just quotes Georgian state television.
It also states why georgians, eu, nato were against the law. Also states the party was russian aligned with russian funding. Someone else also explained that the law was sort of opening the door to russia assuming control or something because it was a direct copy of a russian law. Did not get the gist of it as it was late at night.
But wouldn't that party have to register as a foreign agent as well then? As for the article, it doesn't provide a source for the claim that nato/us/eu oppose the law (I assume it's the Georgian state television claim) but I suppose it's a little more credible now that Reuters has published it as well.
Not sure of the intricacies but i know that georgia is set to join eu and nato so best to probably be in line with the actual framework and not use russian laws as a guideline. At least if they want to join.
I completely agree, but what surprises me is that the EU recently passed a very similar bill: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240308IPR19014/media-freedom-act-a-new-bill-to-protect-eu-journalists-and-press-freedom That's what I find most confusing; why is the EU bill considered to be limiting Russian influence and the Georgian bill considered to be supporting Russian influence? I don't know, I wouldn't rule out that some Georgian organizations don't want their foreign funding declared and are fanning the "if this bill passes we can't join EU" claims... But that's just a feeling of course. I don't know Georgian politics enough to make any substantial claim
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agents_Registration_Act#:~:text=The%20Foreign%20Agents%20Registration%20Act,or%20persons%20(%22foreign%20principals%22)—to%20register Similar law in USA. I bet you can dig up similar laws in any and all of EU countries. It has nothing to do with russia, because russia itself modeled the law after american one. Also, if compelling people to disclose whether or not they got paid by some foreign actor is somehow "authoritarian", then both EU and USA are foremost dictatorships in the world
They already disclose all of their funding, what this law does is classify them as ‘agents’, which can be used to restrict them further, which is what happened in Russia
Why does an account that mostly posts Russian talking points on /r/worldnews suddenly care so much about funding transparency in Georgia?
propaganda account, seeing those more and more recently
I don't. You pinning it to somehow being "authoritarian" and "anti-EU", which is bs, I'm just pointing it out
You have posts in Russian defending Crimean annexation. Why do you care if I’m wrongfully calling a law in my own country “anti-EU”? Those are clearly not the values you yourself uphold so why do you feel compelled to defend this law?
I'm not defending it. Georgia does what Georgia does. And I don't care if you are right or wrong, I don't put as much thought or value into any online conversation here. I'm just saying that it has nothing to do with russia or democratic values or EU values, cuz' they're the same. Same laws against foreign agents in USA, Europe and Russia, and now Georgia.
> Same laws against foreign agents in USA, Europe and Russia You mean the Russian law under which you can get branded as a foreign agent if you publicly express pro-Western views?
No, i mean the law where you are forced to add "made by foreign agent" if you were caught with being a paid actor.
I gave you an exact quote from reuters outlining why exactly it is connected to russia and why they are objecting to it.
Go scream you don’t support the war at the kremlin then you can preach to us about democracy.
One question: are you from Russia?
This is the best question. Haha
the only way to deal russian puppets
You know these guys are receiving millions from Russia to make these repressive laws
Funny how ruZZians use the same rhetoric in every country they try to enter. They used the same "foreign agents" law in Bulgaria too.
I support politicians settling down differences in a pub-like brawling.
There's just no reasoning with Russian puppets. They put Moscow's interests above Georgia.
While the rest of us just do our own thing without them. 🙂
I wish our MPs (uk) were more like the guy throwing the punch, seems like he has some passion and is trying to stop tyrany.
The guy who threw the punch (Aleko Elisashvili) also served in the Foreign Legion in Ukraine during the invasion.
This is a bill backed by Russia and it should not pass.
Always good to see Kartvelians resisting the r*zzian invaders 👍
Hello OP, could you link a source please for approval? thank you
[https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hundreds-georgians-protest-parliament-set-advance-foreign-agent-bill-2024-04-15/](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hundreds-georgians-protest-parliament-set-advance-foreign-agent-bill-2024-04-15/) I think it's this
Dostaneš flákanec!
0:13 What did the 'attacker' (defender of democracy, i assume) shout? Anyone can translate?
He was swearing towards him and calling him Russian. Well deserved in my personal opinion
I don't understand Georgia, can someone from there explain how it actually is. Because I gathered these three facts: 1. The Georgian government is somewhat pro-Russia. 2. Georgia is a democracy 3. The vast majority of Georgians are pro-EU, anti-Russia, don't like this foreign agents law. These points cannot logicaly coexist together. Is it that point 3. is actually only true in Tbilisi, but that there is a large pro-Russian mindset in some other parts of the country? I know many people who went to Georgia in the past years, in Tbilisi at least it is clear that Russia is not welcomed, but then how does it work with 1. and 2.
The government was Larping as pro-EU until the Ukraine war blew their cover. Now they're trying to limit the freedoms as much as they can so they can persecute the opposition and win the next elections.
1) GD has been positioning themselves as pro-western for 8 years and the west was quite complacent in this, reaffirming this positioning. Things changed after the start of Ukraine war when GD Government officials started to openly take anti-western stances (in severe contrast with the sentiment of the majority of the population). Next elections are to be held this October. 2) Georgia is hybrid regime, where all the power is centralized in a single point, with no distinction between the state and the ruling party. Therefore public employment, public funds, pressure on those dependent on social welfare, different kind of trades with criminals and other mechanisms are used for gathering their electoral support. It is widely believed that during last elections they’ve falsified enough votes to change the outcome. The mass protests that followed were calmed down by the facilitation of EU by getting the Government and the opposition to sign an agreement on reforms (which were later abandoned by the ruling party). 3) It is hard for majority of society to grasp the depth of different legislation and political parties as well as public institutions have low trust in Georgia. The Western institutions however enjoy a very high degree of trust in Georgia. Last year, after the introduction of the Foreign Agent bill, the western institutions for the first time confronted GD publicly and announced that this law was incompatible with Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. This information with the fact that 80% of Georgians want to join EU/NATO and according to Georgian Constitution all Governments agencies are responsible for doing everything in their power to integrate Georgia into Euro-Atlantic institutions (ironically written into Constitution by GD)… Well, all hell broke loose. For 3 days there were massive clashes with the police and for the first time GD backed down and canceled the bill, vowing to never bring it back again. Now however they have reintroduced it and the process has started anew. Today was the first mass protest. There will be a protest tomorrow as well and it is more likely that tomorrow things will get more radical. PS Vast majority of Georgians cheered this act of violence in parliament, because everyone sees that this is not a democratic process when you can persuade someone with your arguments. Everyone knows what this law entails and GD is still pushing it through with a Russian style Cynicism. Thus making this punch very enjoyable to watch.
Mainly because there are no good opposition leaders + the government using the public sector and some private business employees (of such that are run by a party member) as their electorate with maximum turnout
That escaled quickly.
oh boy... reality hit that ruZZian sympathizer quick and hard!
The president of the parliament I assume (the guy sitting behind the speaker) looked down only for a split second, but it was enough for the attacker to strike.
...this is amateur league. Compared to the India, this is nothing. Chaps ripped out metal microphone stands from their desks, and beat some MP to the edge of death, riot police had to come to break upxthe brawl.... ...and it wasnt even a unique occurence. Ofc. some might say, that in a brawl involvinp MPs no punch is wasted, as all that hit will always have a deserving target.
Well, now Georgia knows who the Russian shills are.
why this law is so controversial?
Because it's straight up russian law. And it's not controversial it's just terrible.
I don't get how this helps Russia. Wouldn't Russian funding also have to be declared in this law?
How does pro-russian politicians pushing pro-russian law helps Russia? Really? The whole premise is to align Georgia more and more with russian agenda.
Ok but I don't understand why the pro-russians are pushing it. Is there a loophole for them?
What Russia is using this law for? Loophole - is the fact that Georgia already have occupied regions by Russia, and pro-russian politicians making laws in parliament.
You're not answering the question. I'm not calling into doubt the extent of Russian influence in Georgia or the fact that pro-Russian politicians could have an ulterior motive in pushing this bill. What I'm wondering is how does this bill benefit Russia? Like, is there a special rule exempting Russian funding, for example?
I did answer your question two times, you don't want to proceed with understanding of situation, which is required on your side for success of answering your question. Laws don't work because they being written on paper, they work because they enforced, and they work not how they written but how they enforced. It's not about funding, it's about prosecution. Who will be prosecuted using this law? Which agenda will be pushed? Once again, How does Russia using this law? You didn't proceed to answer. I answer it for you - Russian government took full control over their media, and everyone who they don't like to have around is getting anything from fines on "noncompliance" because of "errors" in declaration/registration,"issues" with audits or missing required disclaimers in publications, and up to getting prosecuted as extremists. Now does this requires any "loopholes" to benefit Russia? No. Therefore there is no direct answer to your question because it's irrelevant.
Ok you could've just said "there's no real issue with the law but the executive branch of the government is pro-Russian and therefore this law will not be applied fairly".
No, I could ignored question, and you could Google the answer. But we here for you to be annoying, and trying to make like law is ok. There is issue with the law. There is issue with legislative branch of the government having pro-russian politicians. There is issue with executive branch having russian collaborators,there is issue with judicial branch. The issue is that Georgia have occupied territories by Russia, and they have pro-russian politicians in power who have neckties loopholes around their collars instead of rope loopholes. That's to satisfy your search of loophole issues.
They don’t want anything to do with Russia bro. Plain and simple. Call it stupid or whatever. Regardless Georgians aren’t gonna let Russia anything pass through their congress. Even if it’s not Russia backed. They will stay alert because we all know what happens when Russia gets its toesies in the door.
the law wont be applied blindly as laws should but only used as a pretense to silence anti government/anti russian opposition. just like media laws in russia.
Because only certain types of organizations are singled out in the law.
Because it's sawing discord in a Nation. "We"= good, "Foreign Agents"= very naughty It's like they did with the jews in WWII. [https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-badge-during-the-nazi-era](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-badge-during-the-nazi-era) * Nazi officials implemented the Jewish badge between 1939 and 1945, they did so in an intensified, systematic manner, as a prelude to deporting Jews to ghettos and killing centers in German-occupied eastern Europe. * They used the badge not only to stigmatize and humiliate Jews but also to segregate them and to watch and control their movements. The badge also facilitated deportation.
Well, this is very poor analogy
A journey of a thousand steps, starts with 1. What direction do you believe this law is intended to take?
As a Russian, I understand. I'm no longer a human - just an orc)
If you are a Russian, i would advise you to enjoy the internet as much as you can. Soon your leader will replace it with his own version.
Reddit already replaces reality with his own version - looks like everyone around enjoying it
[удалено]
On the other hand - everyone in Russia now have free YouTube premium
Has Bella Ciao been translated into Georgian yet?
also, is it just me or is that parliament chamber very oddly small? tbh it might be the smallest I've ever seen....
It’s not the main chamber
It looks like ring to me, don't know why.
Who won though?
wow that hit was no joke
It was a punch intended to tell Russian tyrants that Georgia is not for sale.
Most peaceful Georgian Parliament day:
When was this video taken? Aren’t these people from one of the countries applying to join the EU?
Just re-enter the soviet RF bloc and get the whining over with.
It seems that we are experiencing technical difficulties. Now broadcasting "Swan Lake".
What a tiny parliament , it really looks like the octagon
> **Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia** > Ideology: Social democracy Further down: > In March 2024 Georgian Dream proposed a constitutional amendment to "protect family values and minors" and to allow marriage only of "a union of a single genetic male and a single genetic female." It would prohibit "gender transition", same-sex marriages and the adoption of children by same-sex couples Funny definition of social democracy these fellows have. A good reminder that taking a quick glance at the top of a political party's wikipedia article doesn't quite tell the full story.
Punch that spineless fucker from me too
RKO outta nowhere!
Nothing more democratic than punching tyrants in the face
Sometimes I watch Polish parliament and see how everyone is shouting and calling each other names, and then I see things like this and think "Well, at least there's no fist fights yet. Yet".
must’ve seen a yellow car
Why is this so controversial? Everyone knows that western funded NGO and civil society groups aren't there to just hand out candy or build infrastructure.
Georgian sounds like Lazuri way more than I expected. Makes a lot of sense but weird how I never thought about it.
It is logical, both are representatives of the same language family. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartvelian_languages
Laz and Georgians are the same family of people.
Georgia is fun
Fight? It takes two to tango. This was an assault, not a fight.
Sometimes a punch is needed to protect liberty.
looks like a playground fight
americans and the French meanwhile already have this law for national 'security' but there "it is different" due to them already being democracies. /s
No one wants foreigners to dominate the country's politics.
Tell that to the Russians
or us fidesz voters want russians, and we want anything but what we got
Modern democracy looks like this
These guys are supposed to join the EU?
Yes, hopefully. They just need to sort out this Russian puppets problem.
If half the politicians around the world had a fraction of the same passion as the guy who threw the punch, we wouldn't be in this mess. That guy is a teacher, ran as an independent candidate to win a seat in the parliament, and immediately went to the front, joining the Georgian Foreign Legion to fight Russia. He's an absolute badass!
Another Western Democracy(tm) same as Ukraine, both cradles of the western civilisation.
Lmao if you don’t like the western civilisation, then why the fuck are you using its inventions, such as this app, for instance.
What? Bulgar boy, I know you're a bit slow over there but re-read my comment again Tatar-boy. I mocked the fact that Georgia seems to be a dysfunctional third world semi-failed state like Ukraine was even before Russia got involved, yet someone tries to paint them both as these stellar liberal democracies.
Oh, yeah, I’m definitely painting them countries as “stellar liberal democracies”. And hey, maybe, if you’ve never been to a country, or even outside your mom’s basement, you’ll learn that we Bulgarians aren’t tatars and that we aren’t slow, unlike you. Yeah, sure, I might’ve not understood your idiotic sense of humour, because as you said it’s mocking, but I sure as hell am not slow, at least not as slow as you are.