Georgia’s president says ‘dark forces’ trying to divide country

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said Tuesday that “dark forces” are trying to divide her country.

“Some dark forces came into play, trying to split the society and the country, which they could not force to kneel or weaken with ethnic conflicts, civil wars, invasion and occupation,” Zourabichvili said in an address dedicated to the 33rd anniversary of Georgian Defense Forces.

Expressing the “enemy” knows that making a crack in society could weaken the country as a whole, Zourabichvili said Georgia and its society have been united around the goal of the “European perspective” for more than 30 years.

Zourabichvili said her country has witnessed crises, unrest and different political movements in the last 33 years, though nobody has questioned its goal.

“Today, some forces want to portray our allies and partners as an unknown ‘war party,’ which wants to drag Georgia in a long shot and confrontation. It is a lie and immorality,” she said. “We know best who fought against the Georgian state and its independence for the last 30 years, who had fought against Georgian language, churches, faith and independence since the 19th century.”

Late Monday, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, accused the “global war party” of interfering in his country’s political affairs, amid the reintroduction of a “foreign agents” bill that sparked protests in the nation’s capital of Tbilisi earlier this month.

The bill requires organizations, including media outlets, which receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register with the state registry. It also obliges them to publish annual financial reports.

The bill, first introduced in March 2023, was shelved after it triggered mass protests resulting in the arrest of 66 people and injuries to more than 50 law enforcement officers. It was resubmitted to parliament earlier this month, causing protests to reignite.

Critics have said the bill would undermine democracy and they have labeled it a "Russian law," but members of the ruling majority said it would boost transparency.

Zourabichvili declared she would veto the bill. But Georgian Dream can override the veto by collecting 76 votes, after which the parliament speaker can sign it into law.