Georgia's ruling party has proposed a package of legislation to restrict LGBTQ+ rights — yet another initiative that is seen as a Kremlin-style repressive policy.
Georgia's ruling party has proposed a package of legislation to restrict LGBTQ+ rights — yet another initiative that is seen as a Kremlin-style repressive policy.
The Georgian Republic is also called Sakartwelo. The US-state named after some 18th century British monarch is hopefully not renamed to Savannah or something, creating more confusion...
Technically this year, but already after the last elections in 2020, there were credible allegations of election fraud in favor of the ruling GD party which resulted in massive protests. Since then GD has only tightened its hold of the country's institutions and has suppressed civil society. You can see why the upcoming elections aren't looking promising...
Without doubt, it will. Though the GD party is not keen on joining the EU anymore anyway and favor Russia. Laws like this will make it easy for the GD to blame the EU when the EU makes the inevitable decision to suspend Georgia's admission process.
The latest move comes shortly after a controversial "foreign agent" law was adopted in May despite weeks of unrest and pro-EU rallies.
The opponents, who dubbed the law "Russian" believe that it emulates the Kremlin's crackdown on civil society groups, NGOs and opposition media.
"It is likely an attempt to consolidate the support of the socially conservative electorate, This move aligns with a broader regional trend where parties, such as Hungary's Fidesz leverage socially conservative policies to solidify their base," Bidzina Lebanidze, a senior analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP), told DW.
The organizers of the Tbilisi Pride have repeatedly accused the Interior Ministry, as well as far-right groups, of orchestrating coordinated attacks on the semi-private event.
The Georgian Orthodox Church serves as one of society's most important institutions and enjoys close-knit ties with the ruling party.
The GIP's Bidzina Lebanidze believes that while LGBTQ+ restrictions will affect Georgia's image in the West and its chances of moving forward on the EU path, the "foreign agent" law that Brussels and Washington urged Georgian authorities to withdraw in May will overshadow any new repressive initiatives.
The original article contains 799 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 77%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!