Georgia’s ruling party announced today that it will propose a bill banning “LGBTQ propaganda” in education and television, just days after parliament approved another controversial “foreign agents” law.

“Georgian Dream”, which has ruled since 2012, has in the past two years strengthened its conservative turn, accusing the West of undermining the “traditional values” of this Caucasian country, the majority of whose inhabitants are Orthodox Christians.

The opposition, for its part, says that the authorities are removing her Agriculture from its goal of joining the European Union, and are instead reaching out to Russia, where a similar law banning “LGBTQ propaganda” was adopted a decade ago.

The bill on “the protection of minors and family values” will be submitted to parliament in June.

The aim is to ban “propaganda of same-sex relationships and incest” in educational institutions and television broadcasts.

The prohibition “it concerns the broadcasting of sex scenes on television and in the cinema, which is a common practice“said the speaker of the parliament, Salva Papauashvili.

In March, Georgian Dream considered banning medical sex-change operations as well as same-sex marriage, which has never been legal in Georgia.

The opposition says the initiative is part of efforts to marginalize it ahead of crucial parliamentary elections in October. “Georgian Dream believes it will trap the opposition in a dilemma: support the measures and lose the support of liberal voters or oppose and alienate conservative voters,” commented an Akhali party official, Nika Melia.

Papuashvili signed into law on Monday the other controversial law, also based on a similar Russian one, which imposes increased administrative controls on non-governmental organizations and independent media that are partly financed from abroad.

The pro-European opposition parties, for their part, took a first step towards forming a common front, co-signing a political map ahead of the elections.