In August 2025, I found myself in Georgia for the first time, in Bakuriani, serving as a delegate to the general assembly of an international youth NGO. The energy of the young Georgians there was incredible. Many carried backpacks patched with the EU flag or had pro-European stickers plastered on their laptops, all sharing a fierce hunger for reform. Today, those same young people I embraced before leaving, promising them I couldn’t wait to see them again, are forced to watch their organizations being dismantled piece by piece by their own government.
From the Rose Revolution to Pro-Russian Realignment
In 2003, the historic Rose Revolution pulled Georgia out of Moscow’s orbit, setting it firmly on a pro-European and pro-NATO path. For two decades, civil society and youth NGOs served as the primary engine of this modernization, building a democratic culture from the ground up and enshrining their European aspirations directly into the country’s Constitution.
However, change began to creep in subtly as the ruling Georgian Dream party consolidated power under the lead of a pro-Russian oligarch. Under the guise of neutrality and avoiding conflict with Russia, the government gradually adopted an increasingly sovereignist and anti-Western narrative. The turning point came with the autumn 2024 parliamentary elections, which solidified this authoritarian, Moscow-aligned political trajectory. De facto, Georgia transitioned from an aspiring EU member state to a satellite authoritarian regime.
The First Wave: The 2024 “Foreign Agents Law”
The first frontal assault on young people and civil society was launched in the spring of 2024 with the passage of the controversial law on the “transparency of foreign influence”, a near-identical copy of the repressive legislation Russia has used for years.
Under this measure, any youth NGO receiving more than 20% of its budget from foreign funding, such as Erasmus+ programs, European Union grants, or support from Western embassies, was forced to officially register as an “organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power.” In a country lacking both a local culture of philanthropy and transparent government funding for youth, this law was never about transparency; it was about suffocation. Organizations were left with an impossible choice: either accept the humiliating label of “traitor to the country” along with suffocating administrative control, or close their doors for good.
The Second Wave: The Hunt for Personal Data
In 2025, the legislative crosshairs shifted from the NGOs as entities to the individuals themselves. Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau expanded its powers through a series of highly aggressive legislative amendments, gaining the authority to demand nominal lists and detailed personal data of all contractors, partners, and, most alarmingly, all project beneficiaries.
Youth work, especially in Eastern Europe, relies on one fundamental principle: trust. For young people to express themselves freely, learn about human rights, and discover the benefits of democracy and critical thinking, they need a safe space to do so. The moment young people, both high school and university students, realized that their presence at a summer camp or a town square workshop would be reported directly to government registries, a sense of Soviet-era fear (which was never truly forgotten) returned instantly. Their participation in non-formal activities was transformed from a personal development opportunity into a calculated risk to their academic and professional futures. The state successfully spied on and isolated the most active and powerful segment of society: its courageous youth.
The Present: Suffocation and Prison
In 2026, new amendments to the Law on Grants blocked any remaining loopholes for youth work survival. The state now pre-approves and controls every single source of foreign funding entering the country for civic activities.
Furthermore, current legislation is no longer limited to administrative fines or suspensions. Any “unauthorized” use of funds or refusal to report them under the new directives now triggers criminal liability, carrying a maximum penalty of 6 years in prison for organizational leaders. The risk has become far too high to be managed on sheer enthusiasm and courage alone. The struggle has escalated from logistical hurdles to a battle for the physical freedom of individuals whose only crime was believing in democratic values and dreaming of a European future.
Looking at Georgia, then at Ourselves: How Close is Europe to the Edge?
The tragedy of Georgia is not an isolated incident; it is a stark warning of what happens when democracy is stolen. Looking across the Black Sea, we cannot help but look at our own home and ask: Could this happen here?
Far-right movements are surging across the European Union, and no country is immune. My home country, Romania, is already weathering institutional crises, culminating in the unprecedented annulment of democratic elections, a move that fractured public opinion and deeply shook trust in the democratic process.
Worrying signs are also surfacing at the legislative level. In May 2026, a law-project aggressively promoted by the AUR party (Alliance for the Union of Romanians, the country’s primary right-wing populist driver) was introduced to force the “transparentization” of NGO donations and funding. Under this bill, organizations must submit highly detailed annual declarations of all income and funding sources. Additionally, donor anonymity is permanently stripped for cumulative donations from a single source exceeding 5,000 RON (approx. €1,000), requiring the public disclosure of the donors’ personal identification data. The most punitive measure is the sanction for failing to submit these lists on time: immediate suspension of activities or automatic dissolution if the NGO fails to comply within a year.
Under the banner of financial oversight, this law hides clear mechanisms for administrative harassment and civil society intimidation. Doesn’t this sound exactly like Georgia, or Orban’s Hungary?
How Do We Prevent This?
By refusing to remain spectators. Youth organizations and civic communities must show, now more than ever, that they are bound by a powerful network of solidarity, acting as true watchdogs against any attempt to curtail fundamental freedoms.
By strengthening democratic and civic education from the ground up: young people must understand how a constitutional democracy works so they can defend it. Democracy is not lost overnight; it is eroded gradually, law by law, sanction by sanction, until free space vanishes entirely.
Our responsibility is to draw the red line early, not to panic and flee when it is already too late.
Conclusion: A Generation Forced to Remain Grounded
When the doors of democracy close one by one, the safety of our youth is compromised. Georgian youth are not just losing their organizations; they are losing their future. In August 2025, I saw a generation ready to take flight toward Europe. Today, nearly a year later, caught in a geopolitical vice tightened by their pro-Russian government, these young people are being forced down, their wings clipped before they can even fly. For many of them, the only way to remain free is no longer to fight at home, but to emigrate, leaving Georgia stripped of its pro-European heart.
For those of us in Romania and across the European Union, their story must not be treated as a sad Sunday read. It is a mirror. If we do not learn to defend our institutions, our civil society, and our safe spaces of expression in time, we risk waking up to the very same reality.
Democracy is not a permanent privilege; it survives only through the vigilance of each generation. It is entirely up to us to ensure that our European future does not become just another stolen dream.