Russian matrix

The events in Georgia related to the new laws are not over, but are just beginning. Attempts to adopt the law “on foreign agents” at least in some version will be made again, and then, if the Georgian authorities have time and opportunity, norms (or existing ones) related to the regulation of political and media activities will be introduced into Georgian legislation. And so on – up to “undesirable” and “extremist” organizations and people.

These Russian-style laws are designed to make power in any country that Russia wants to keep in its orbit more centralized and simultaneously controlled from the Kremlin. Georgia is not the first.

Laws on “foreign agents” can be seen as beacons signaling an intensification of the struggle for influence in countries that the Kremlin considers its own. At the peak of the political confrontation in Ukraine in January 2014, the Verkhovna Rada, at the instigation of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions, adopted a package of laws (“January 16 laws”), among which were norms on foreign agents and norms tightening the rules for holding public actions and working in the media. Ukrainians then instantly perceived these laws as “Russian” and intensified resistance. Recall that the reason for the public protest was Yanukovych’s refusal – in November 2013 – to sign an association agreement with the European Union. The Kremlin then managed to prevent Ukraine from taking the first steps towards the transition to the “European matrix”, which involves the adoption of certain norms and rules, which in turn can then allow the country to join the EU.

The emergence of the specter of “January 16 laws” in Georgia right now can be explained by the fact that, last year – unlike Ukraine and Moldova – Georgia did not receive the status of a candidate country for EU membership. The prospect of European integration in Georgia is popular – it is not imposed by the authorities. To obtain the status of a candidate, the state must fulfill certain conditions regarding the participation of society in the affairs of the country and the open and free activities of the media. The law on foreign agents, as the authors of the South Caucasian edition of JAMnews write, hinders the implementation of these European norms. The situation in Georgia, of course, does not copy the situation in Ukraine nine years ago, but it meaningfully resembles it.

The Russian authorities are eager to enact laws similar to Russia’s wherever they want to undermine Western influence and strengthen their own. Laws on foreign agents are proving to be key in this fight not by chance. The Kremlin does not believe in the independence of people and societies and believes that the United States, through non-profit organizations, arranges revolutions in other countries and establishes pro-Western regimes.

Similar events are happening and will continue to happen in other countries. In Kyrgyzstan, an attempt was already made a few years ago to adopt a “law on foreign agents”, but it was unsuccessful. A new version of the bill is currently under consideration. In Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, there are laws on NGOs that stipulate foreign funding, but these norms do not copy the Russian ones. It provides for the coordination of projects with the Ministry of Justice and the filtering of projects, but without penalties. There are, however, cases of prosecution on the tax line. Of course, it is not these details that are important, but the understanding of plans to extend the “Russian matrix” to neighboring countries. From the Kremlin’s point of view, these countries should not only not have NATO, they should not have a free civil society and free media.