Several Georgian NGOs say they will challenge domestically and internationally the so-called "foreign agent" law pushed through parliament by the ruling Georgian Dream party despite a presidential veto and weeks of protests against the law, seen as mirroring a repressive Russian measure and jeopardizing the country's hopes to join the European Union.
The group of NGOs announced on May 30 that they were going to file a lawsuit with Georgia's Constitutional Court to contest the legality of the measure, while at the same time lodging a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
After the Georgian Dream-dominated parliament on May 28 overrode President Salome Zurabishvili's veto with an 84-4 vote in the 150-seat parliament, the law is now expected to land back on the president's desk within three days.
Once she receives it, Zurabishvili has five days to sign it. But the-pro-Western president, who has been at odds with Georgian Dream over the bill and sided with the protesters, has given no indication she intends to do so.
However, if she refuses as expected, the speaker of parliament, Georgian Dream member Shalva Papuashvili, can sign the law and publish it.
"Georgian NGOs continue their legal struggle against the 'Russian law.' We will not live by the norms of the 'Russian law' and will use all domestic and international mechanisms to impede its operation until the law is unconditionally repealed," the group of NGOs said in a statement read out at a joint news conference in Tbilisi on May 30.
"The Constitutional Court can act with the powers granted by the constitution and suspend the operation of the relevant articles of the law," the NGOs continued.
"We do not consider the Constitutional Court the only way of our legal struggle. If it does not act in a timely manner and within the constitutional framework, we will use an alternative legal mechanism," they added. "We are preparing to file a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.”
The authors of the statement note that "all nongovernmental and media organizations can become participants in this fight.”
Georgia's civil society has for years sought to move the country away from the influence of Russia, which still maintains thousands of troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway Georgian regions that Moscow recognized as independent states following a five-day war with Tbilisi in 2008.
Critics say the legislation was introduced by Georgian Dream, founded by Russian-friendly Georgian tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, in order to cement the party's grip on power ahead of elections later this year seen as crucial for Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
The law requires civil-society and media organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign sources to submit to oversight that could encompass sanctions for as-yet-undefined criminal offenses.
Both the United States and the European Union have warned Georgian Dream that ignoring criticism and cracking down violently on protesters will have negative consequences.
Georgia obtained the coveted EU candidate status in December, but it has yet to start actual accession talks, which could last for years. There had been hope such talks could start later this year, but Brussels has warned that the "foreign agent" law could endanger the path toward Europe.
Georgian Dream has insisted that it remains committed to joining Western institutions and the law was only meant to increase transparency on NGO funding.
But Western governments and organizations have issued stark statements, warning the Georgian Dream government that the Tbilisi's EU path will be blocked if the law comes into force.
German Ambassador to Tbilisi did not mince words in an interview with Georgian media on May 29.
"Georgia is a [EU] candidate country. This was a huge historic step for both the EU and Georgia. The next step should have been to open accession negotiations, all countries are ready to start negotiations, however, the Georgian government passed a law that does not meet EU standards. As long as this law is in force, we will not open negotiations with Georgia."
European Council President Charles Michel also warned that overriding Zurabishvili's veto was a "step backward" for Georgia's European aspirations.
"The European Council decided in December to grant Georgia candidate status on the understanding that Georgia undertakes the relevant steps and necessary democratic reforms," Michel wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on May 28.
"The adoption of the transparency law in the parliament is a step backward and takes Georgia further away from its EU path. The Georgian people have clearly chosen a future in the EU and we will do everything to support their ambitions," Michel said, adding that the issue will be on the agenda of the next European Council meeting.
A day before the vote, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc had started weighing options should Georgia enact the law. He said a decision will be made next month.
A State Department spokesman said the United States condemns the parliament's decision and told reporters that the party's actions and anti-Western rhetoric threaten Georgia's democratic trajectory.
Senator Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland), chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Georgian Dream vote was a "sad day for Georgia," and reaffirmed Washington's determination to back the aspirations of the Georgian people.
"The people have demonstrated that they will not allow Ivanishvili to destroy their democracy & take away their European future. We stand with them," Cardin said on X.
Zurabishvili, meanwhile, has urged Georgians to gear up for the upcoming parliamentary elections later this year.
"We must now do everything we can to prepare for October 26, which will be our answer to today. Are you angry today? Get angry, but let's get down to business," she said, calling for a campaign to collect signatures for an EU referendum.