After the ruling Georgian Dream party passed the draft “foreign agent” bill in its first reading in parliament on March 7, 2023 mass protests against the bill sparked in the capital Tbilisi, taking thousands of Georgians to the streets. Oppositionists call it a Russian project, referring to the law of the same name adopted by the Russian State Duma in 2012 since the Russian foreign agent law requires anyone who receives "support" from outside Russia or is under "influence" from outside Russia to register and declare themselves as "foreign agents".

In addition, a similar law in Russia is sometimes used to put pressure on oppositionists who express views that differ from the government's opinion. Perhaps this was the main reason for the dissatisfaction of the protesters, who accused the government of trying to serve Russian interests. According to the Russian side, this law was just modeled on the analogous American document, Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) adopted in 1938.

In line with the official clarifications, the issue of "transparency of foreign influence" is at the heart of the Georgian version, and it refers exclusively to the activities of foreign-funded structures. Hence, Georgian NGOs receiving money from foreign sources will have to enter a register of “foreign agents”.

However, what are the function and the subject of regulation of the law that raised such a strong wave of protest in our neighboring country? The controversial legislation would have required non-profit organizations and organizations such as media outlets receiving 20% or more of their annual income from abroad to register as “foreign agents” or face heavy fines.

Every year they will be required to report their expenses. A legal entity with the status of a "foreign agent", in this case mass media and human rights organizations, may be subject to strict monitoring, and perhaps even sanctions. The authorities claim that the law is aimed at transparency, while the civil society is convinced that it is a serious blow to Georgian democracy and political and civil alternatives.

The American version of a similar law, amended in 1966, is much stricter. It provides foreign agent status not only for a non-profit legal entity with foreign funding but also for everyone, including physical persons. Failure to comply with the requirements may result in criminal liability. In any case, it is clear that both the US and Russia protect the security of their countries from foreign interference by the law in question.

Georgia is trying to do the same, taking into account the existence of various organizations with foreign funding, which, however, is qualified as an anti-democratic step by "democratic" countries. As we can see, different countries have different statuses, and some are allowed, others are not. Maybe this is what determines which countries are truly sovereign and which have more modest sovereignty.

As for Armenia, there is no such question or initiative in our country yet, and it is not clear what the reaction of the "international community" will be in case of such an attempt. It is also interesting how the society of Armenia itself will react to this, a public which is currently in a nationwide lethargic slumber.