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B argued that the bill was contrary to Georgia’s aspirations to join the Union.
Tens of thousands of young Georgians filled the streets of Tbilisi in protests overnight, worried that the EU’s promised future would be stolen.
A similar plan was scrapped last year due to public outcry, but was revived in April – four months after Brussels was granted the official EU candidate status of Georgia.
Authorities launched an aggressive media campaign against civil society organizations, and government critics were attacked in the streets and saw their homes covered with placards reading “foreign agents”.
“They are trying to intimidate people in the same way,” he said, referring to Soviet-era repression.
But that tactic “won’t work” with Georgia’s Gen Z, he said.
He accused Bidzina Ivanishvili, the “Georgian Dream” billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, “threatening the European future of our Georgia.”
Tawadze, 26, is one of the elderly protesters. Most of them are teenagers, babies and fresh out of school.
“This law is taking away my future,” said 19-year-old Anano Plivi, who stood outside the chamber during the third and final reading on Tuesday.
Comparisons with the Kremlin’s legislation sparked a backlash.
“My knowledge, the way my brain rearranges things, is against the Russian language,” Jailava said.
Russian tanks rolled into Georgia in the 2008 war, upsetting Moscow’s attitude toward Tbilisi for more than a century.
“Not to Russian law!
Spontaneous and irregular, the march often started late and lasted until dawn.
“There’s no plan, we just want to keep going and keep the pressure on,” said 23-year-old Ana Maisuradze.
They say the leaderless movement is gaining momentum, and some fear it will die without a plan.
Riot police forcibly broke up several meetings, arresting and beating several protesters.
Last week, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, 45, attacked the youth in a long post on Facebook – a social media platform that many no longer use.
He described them as violent groups and accused the opposition of “funding the Gen Z movement”.
Georgian Dream also tried to link the prisoners to the United National Movement, the opposition party of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was ousted 12 years ago.
Protesters called the accusations of political affiliation ridiculous, and many were reminded of life under the previous government.
“We don’t work with political opposition parties,” said Luca Beraia, 24, the leader of a student organization that took part in the protest.
Instead, some sections of the opposition are accused of trying to ride the wave of popularity.
On Tuesday night, thousands of students took to the stage outside parliament to praise the opposition leader.
Beraya said he hopes some street protesters will join forces and enter politics to defeat the “Georgia Dream” in the October election.
The vote is seen as a key test of Georgia’s democratic transition three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili said she would veto the bill. Then his veto will be overridden by “Georgian Dream”.
“I will be there until then,” Jailava vowed at the demonstration that evening.
‘As long as it takes’: Georgia’s Gen Z leading street protests
