The rally comes just a week ahead of parliamentary elections, set to take place on 26 October, which are widely seen as a bellwether if Georgia returns to Russia’s orbit or continues on its pro-European path.
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00:00Tens of thousands of Georgians have marched through Tbilisi in a show of support for their
00:06country joining the European Union.
00:09The rally comes just a week ahead of parliamentary elections set to take place on 26 October.
00:15That vote is widely seen as a test to determine whether Georgia returns to Russia's orbit
00:20or continues on its pro-European path.
00:23Last year, the EU granted Georgia candidate country status, but since then, opposition
00:28supporters argue that the ruling Georgian Dream Party has derailed the country's chances
00:32of joining the bloc.
00:34Two recent pieces of legislation in particular raised eyebrows in Brussels.
00:39Earlier this month, Georgia's parliament speaker signed a controversial anti-LGBTQ rights bill
00:45into law.
00:46That includes bans on same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex couples and limitations
00:52on the depiction of LGBTQ plus couples in the media.
00:56And in May, parliament passed a controversial foreign agent law that requires media organizations
01:01and NGOs to register as foreign agents if they receive at least 20 percent of their
01:06funds from abroad.
01:08The ruling Georgian Dream Party claimed the bill would curb alleged foreign attempts to
01:12sway domestic politics.
01:14But critics dubbed it the Russian law because they say it mirrors similar legislation adopted
01:19by the Kremlin to target, discriminate and ultimately outlaw political opponents.
01:25Georgian President Salome Zurbishvili has long been at odds with the Georgian Dream
01:29and refused to sign both bills into law.
01:32The laws have been roundly criticized by the European Union, leading to the freezing of
01:36Georgia's EU accession process.
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