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https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/16/georgia-gen-z-drives-protests-against-return-to-past-foreign-agents-law>
"Mariska Iurevicz’s mother has been crying a lot recently. “She is always
asking when I’ll be home”, the 22-year-old says. “I think we are feeling the
same. We are nervous and some of us feeling unsafe. But we are very strong. We
will do everything to change the situation.”
Iurevicz, a philosophy student at the TSU State University in Tbilisi, the
capital of Georgia, belongs to one of a myriad of protest groups sprouting out
of universities and schools that have been driving the mass protests against
the “foreign agents” law being introduced in the east European country.
They have been horrified by the potential repercussions of forcing civil
society organisations and the media that receive more than 20% of their
revenues from abroad to register as “organisations serving the interests of a
foreign power”.
The new law, adopted by parliament on Tuesday, is regarded by critics at home
and internationally as a copy of that introduced in Russia in 2012 by Vladimir
Putin to silence dissenting voices.
The EU says the law will reduce Georgia’s chances of joining the 27-member
bloc. And a deluge of anti-western rhetoric from leaders in Tbilisi, including
the prime minister, prompted Washington on Wednesday to warn Georgia, a former
Soviet state, not to become an “adversary”. That intervention has already
affected the share price of Georgia’s banking sector.
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets. Georgia’s past feels
very present."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
