Half a million Georgians have marched through the streets of central Tbilisi against the controversial law ‘On the transparency of foreign influence’, which they see inspired by Moscow and that Georgian parliamentarians plan to approve definitively next week. The law, which is inspired by the one approved by Putin’s Government in 2022, opens the doors to outlawing local opponents, something that the US and the UN describe as “undemocratic.”

“No to the Russian law” and “Yes to Europe”chanted the participants in the call that they plan to also extend to this Sunday, the eve of the last debate in the Legislature before the vote on the controversial norm.

“The ruling Georgian Dream intends to Russify our country. Therefore, we will continue the protests until they repeal the law,” Mamuka Jazaradze, leader of the opposition Lelo party, told reporters.

For his part, the Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Kobajidze, assured on Saturday that “Georgia’s only path is the road to the European Union“Being members of the European Union is the most important vector of our foreign policy,” said Kobajidze, on the occasion of Europe Day, which is celebrated this Sunday in the Caucasian country.

The head of the Georgian Executive expressed his confidence that for Georgia is better prepared by 2030 than the rest of the candidates for entry into the community block. In this regard, the EU ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski, assured that in the fall the Twenty-Seven will decide “whether Georgia will take the next step towards membership.”

“You have that chance now! Don’t waste it, because time is running out! Stay on the European path“he said. Protests against the “Russian law”, as the Georgian opposition calls it, which equates it with the Russian regulations on foreign agents used by the Kremlin to silence dissent, have taken place daily in Tbilisi since mid-April.