Georgia's pro-EU Generation Z spearheads 'foreign agent' protests | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
May 28, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2025
Georgia's pro-EU Generation Z spearheads 'foreign agent' protests

Europe

Reuters
15 May, 2024, 01:35 pm
Last modified: 15 May, 2024, 01:41 pm

Related News

  • Georgia Senate backs Bangladesh student movement, interim govt's reforms
  • US, EU call for probe after reports of Georgia election violations
  • In rare move, Georgia arrests father of teen suspected in school shooting
  • Boy, 14, charged with killing four in US school shooting
  • US deeply alarmed by Georgia's foreign agent bill, Sullivan says

Georgia's pro-EU Generation Z spearheads 'foreign agent' protests

For weeks, the international relations student and his classmates have joined the huge crowds protesting against a draft law on "foreign agents" that passed its third and final reading in parliament on Tuesday

Reuters
15 May, 2024, 01:35 pm
Last modified: 15 May, 2024, 01:41 pm
Demonstrators hold a rally to protest against a bill on "foreign agents", in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/File Photo
Demonstrators hold a rally to protest against a bill on "foreign agents", in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/File Photo

For 20-year-old Georgian student Irakli, the almost nightly trip to protest outside parliament is part of a wider struggle where he and his generation have a special role to play.

For weeks, the international relations student and his classmates have joined the huge crowds protesting against a draft law on "foreign agents" that passed its third and final reading in parliament on Tuesday. 

"Every event that was important in our history, in the history of Georgia ... was dominated by young people," Irakli told Reuters outside the main campus of Tbilisi State University, where hundreds of students walked out of classes this week.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"It's a tradition of Georgia's," he said, citing the youthful nationalist movement that pushed for the country's independence from the Soviet Union before its 1991 collapse.

Ever since Georgia's government announced in April that it was reviving a bill that would oblige NGOs to label themselves as foreign agents if they receive over 20% of their funding from abroad, young Georgians in their teens and 20s have been at the forefront of the pushback.

Though opposition to the bill cuts across age groups, younger Georgians have been especially visible and vocal. On Monday, students at a string of educational institutions around the country said they would join an academic strike, demanding that it be withdrawn. 

The draft law has been dubbed "the Russian law" by opponents, who compare it to legislation used by the Kremlin for the past decade to crack down on its opponents. The ruling Georgian Dream party says it is needed to promote transparency,  combat "pseudo-liberal values" promoted by foreigners and preserve the country's sovereignty.

The European Union says it will be an obstacle to Georgia's joining the bloc, for which it was given candidate status in December.

The prospect of EU membership is widely popular in Georgia, and the ruling party says it wants the country to join both the EU and NATO, despite recent anti-Western rhetoric.

But for many of the young protesters, the struggle represents a stark choice over whether Georgia should integrate with Europe or rebuild old ties to Russia.

CLASH OF GENERATIONS

Laliko, a first-year computer science student who walked out of class at Tbilisi State University on Monday, said opposing the law was necessary "to allow us to have the European future that we want, and that we deserve".

Unlike older Georgians, some of whom retain a nostalgia for the Soviet Union, younger Georgians have fewer sentimental bonds to Russia.

Having grown up in a period when Russia imposed a stringent visa regime on Georgians, relatively few have ever made the short trip to their vast northern neighbour, or speak its language. 

Many speak good English and some have travelled within the EU thanks to a visa-free regime for Georgians, making them more inclined to see their country's future as interwoven with Europe.

Zurab Japaridze, the 48-year-old leader of Girchi - More Freedom, a pro-EU libertarian party that has a mostly youthful following and has been backing the protests, said that Georgia's present crisis reflected a clash of generations.

"We have a generational conflict in a sense, where the younger generation is more willing and eager and ready to fight for their freedom while the older generation has some kind of nostalgia for Soviet times."

But if Georgia's Gen-Zers are clear in their dislike of the government, few are sold on the main alternatives.

Georgia's fractious and divided opposition parties remain dominated by the United National Movement (UNM) party of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is now serving a six-year prison sentence for abuse of power.

But though Saakashvili, who led Georgia from 2003 to 2013, remains a deeply polarising figure among those who lived under his government, many younger Georgians have little memory of his tenure.

Student Linako Giunashvili said she hated the UNM and wanted greater political choice. "We want to vote for many, many parties. The more parties there are in the parliament, the more voices will be heard," she said. 

Japaridze said that many of the young people who risked arrest at the nightly protests had little interest in the country's formal opposition politics.

"They are not members or even supporters of any political parties," he said.

"But they know what they want. They want Georgia in the EU and they're ready to fight for it."

World+Biz

Georgia / Foreign agent registry

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Leaders and activists of BNP gather at Nayapaltan ahead of the rally of three BNP affiliated organisations on Wednesday, 28 May 2025. Photo: Rajib Dhar/TBS
    'We wanted election roadmap from Yunus, not staged resignation': Salahuddin at BNP rally
  • File Photo: Reuters
    Bangladeshi cos expecting increased costs due to tariffs, yet extremely optimistic about int'l growth: HSBC survey
  • Photo: Collected
    HC overturns graft convictions of Tarique, Zubaida

MOST VIEWED

  • Selim RF Hussain. Sketch: TBS
    BRAC Bank MD Selim RF Hussain resigns
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Depositors need not worry as govt will take over banks before merger: BB governor
  • Graphics: TBS
    Suspicious banking activities surge by 56% since July: Cenbank
  • Photo: Collected
    DU student assaulted for protesting eve-teasing at Chadni Chowk
  • Illustration: TBS
    Bangladesh sees highest-ever per capita income of $2,820 in FY25, BBS provisional data shows
  • Officials protest inside the Secretariat on Tuesday, 27 May 2025, over a government ordinance amending the Public Service Act, 2018. Photo: Rajib Dhar
    Protest at Secretariat suspended as govt assures decision on ordinance tomorrow

Related News

  • Georgia Senate backs Bangladesh student movement, interim govt's reforms
  • US, EU call for probe after reports of Georgia election violations
  • In rare move, Georgia arrests father of teen suspected in school shooting
  • Boy, 14, charged with killing four in US school shooting
  • US deeply alarmed by Georgia's foreign agent bill, Sullivan says

Features

In recent years, the Gor-e-Shaheed Eidgah has emerged as a strong contender for the crown of the biggest Eid congregation in the country, having hosted 600,000 worshippers in 2017. Photo: TBS

Gor-e-Shaheed Boro Maath: The heart of Dinajpur

1d | Panorama
The Hili Land Port, officially opened in 1997 but with trade roots stretching back to before Partition, has grown into a cornerstone of bilateral commerce.

Dhaka-Delhi tensions ripple across Hili’s markets and livelihoods

2d | Panorama
Photo: Collected

Desk goals: Affordable ways to elevate your study setup

3d | Brands
Built on a diamond-type frame, the Hornet 2.0 is agile but grounded. PHOTO: Asif Chowdhury

Honda Hornet 2.0: Same spirit, upgraded sting

3d | Wheels

More Videos from TBS

Donald Trump warns Vladimir Putin he is 'playing with fire' over Ukraine

Donald Trump warns Vladimir Putin he is 'playing with fire' over Ukraine

40m | TBS World
Families of those injured and martyred in the July coup protest in the capital

Families of those injured and martyred in the July coup protest in the capital

1h | TBS Today
Trump administration suspends student visas in the US indefinitely

Trump administration suspends student visas in the US indefinitely

2h | TBS World
Crowds throng BNP’s youth rally

Crowds throng BNP’s youth rally

2h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net