Additional Context: The Georgian FARA requires individuals and entities to register as “foreign agents”if they are acting “at the authority, request, order, or control of a foreign principal”to engage in a broad set of covered activities, including “political activities,”in the interests or on behalf of the foreign principal. Such persons are required to submit detailed reports of their activities and finances and provide two copies of any public statement to the authorities. Additionally, such persons must also mark their public statements as produced by a “foreign agent,” a stigmatizing term that indicates those registered are not acting independently. Compared to the 2024 “Foreign Influence Law”, which only included administrative penalties for violations, the Georgian FARA introduces severe criminal penalties.

According to analysts, the foreign assistance cuts validate the longstanding talking points used across authoritarian leaders in the region, who have portrayed pro-democracy NGOs as agents of foreign powers. This puts these individuals and organizations directly in harm's way, while limiting the capability of civil society actors going forward.

Source: IIEA, ICNL