On the 28th of May, in a small country on the easternmost reaches of Europe, a new law came into effect. For the vast majority of people around the world, this new ruling, in a nation of fewer than 4 million inhabitants, went largely unnoticed. However, for many of the citizens of Georgia it marked a setback, throwing off course the country’s prospects of joining the European Union and aligning it more closely with Moscow. This week on The Inquiry we’re asking, ‘Is Georgia turning its back on Europe?’ Contributors: Megi Kartsivadze, DPhil student, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford, and an invited lecturer at the University of Tbilisi, Georgia Professor Stephen Jones, Director of the Program on Georgian Studies at the Davis Center at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Dr. Lia Tsuladze, Executive Director of the Center for Social Sciences and an Associate Professor of Sociology at Tbilisi State University, Georgia Maia Nikoladze, Assistant Director in the GeoEconomics Center, Atlantic Council, Washington DC Production team: Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Lorna Reader Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Researcher: Matt Toulson Production Coordinators: Ellie Dover & Tim Fernley Editor: Tara McDermott Image Credit: David Mdzinarishvili/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
You are actually radioactive and everything alive.
Is Unexpected Elements from the BBC World.
Service Search for unexpected elements wherever you.
Get your BBC podcasts.
Welcome to the Inquiry with me, Tanya Beckett on the BBC World Service.
One question, four expert witnesses and an answer on 28 May, in a small country on the easternmost reaches of Europe, a new law came into effect.
For the vast majority of people around the world, this new ruling in a nation of fewer than 4 million inhabitants went largely unnoticed.
But for the majority of the citizens of Georgia, it marked a deeply painful setback, throwing off course the prospects of joining the European Union and aligning it more closely with Moscow.
So this week on the inquiry we're asking is Georgia turning its back on Europe?
Part 1 the Foreign Influence Law On May 24, protests erupted on the streets of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
Demonstrators had been turning out in their masses for a month, voicing their opposition to a new law that was days away from a vote in Parliament.
There were somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 people in the streets, which is a huge number considering the whole population of Georgia is 3.5 million.
Protesters claimed the foreign influence ruling would stifle the voice of democracy in Georgia and push the country off its path towards joining the European Union.
My whole family is in Georgia, my friends are in Georgia and I feel very connected to the modern day developments there.
Meggy Car Sivadse is currently a doctoral student at the University of Oxford and an invited lecturer at the University of Tbilisi.
Georgia's new foreign influence law did pass through parliament on May 28.
It takes aim at media and non governmental organisations, saying that if such organisations get more than a fifth of their funding from abroad, they must register as acting in the interest of a foreign power.
This mirrors a similar ruling introduced in Russia over a decade ago.
The European Commission has been clear that it views the legislation as going against the core values of the eu.