"a key western ally is turning to russia"
2024-08-31
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georgia, torn apart by the "foreign agents act", will hold a crucial parliamentary election on october 26. "in recent months, as russia has regained its momentum in ukraine, the georgian and russian governments have moved closer," the wall street journal reported on august 29, expressing "concern" that this national election is likely to become a flashpoint for conflict, and that this "key ally" of the west is about to turn to russia.
on august 27, georgian president zurabishvili signed a decree, officially announcing that the quadrennial parliamentary election will be held on the last saturday of october, that is, on the 26th, in accordance with the constitution. this election will determine whether the georgian dream-democratic georgia party (hereinafter referred to as the georgian dream party), which has been in power since 2012, can win a fourth term.
in zurabishvili's view, this will be the south caucasus country's "choice between europe and russia." russia and georgia have long been at odds over the abkhazia and south ossetia issues, but the wall street journal said on the 29th that georgia is now "drifting away" from the west.
although the "foreign agents bill" once triggered a wave of nationwide protests, mainly among young people, many georgians, especially the older generation, have made it clear that they intend to vote for the georgian dream party that promoted the bill. "we have experienced so many wars here!" said larisa miruashvili from gori. "the current government is doing its best to achieve peace and stability, and i am really grateful for that."
gori was occupied by russian troops during the 2008 russia-georgia war. reports say many georgians blame the military conflict on the reckless policies of then-president saakashvili. ivanishvili, founder, honorary chairman and former prime minister of the georgian dream party, promised this month that saakashvili would be subject to a world war ii "nuremberg trial" after the election.
nikoloz samkharadze, chairman of the georgian parliament's foreign relations committee and a leading member of the georgian dream party, said the georgian government must handle relations with russia carefully because it concerns the survival of the country.
nicholas samkharadze
samkharadze mentioned that the united states and its allies had provided almost no assistance to georgia in past conflicts with russia. "i can tell you very frankly that we are afraid of russia... we have learned our lesson and we know that if war breaks out again between russia and georgia, we will once again fight alone."
currently, the georgian government refuses to impose economic sanctions on russia or provide weapons assistance to ukraine, and is accused by western countries of "standing on russia's side". in response, maka botchorishvili, a senior member of the georgian dream party and chairman of the parliament's european integration committee, retorted that georgia has never shied away from supporting ukraine on the international stage.
"but what kind of sanctions can georgia impose on russia to influence russia? none. we cannot affect the russian economy, but russia can seriously affect the georgian economy and security," bochorishvili said.
during the russian-georgian war, russian artillery shells hit merab merabishvili's apartment in gori, destroying it. the 65-year-old said he would vote for the georgian dream party because he didn't want this to happen again. "we want to be friends with russia now." fatima papiashvili, who experienced the conflict with her 9-year-old daughter, also said, "the protesters in tbilisi are shouting because they haven't seen what war really looks like."
according to the wall street journal, the "foreign agents act" has played a catalytic role in georgia's "gradual drifting away" from the west. the full name of the bill is the "foreign influence transparency act", which was first proposed by the georgian dream party in february last year. it requires media and non-governmental organizations that receive more than 20% of their funds from abroad to disclose the source of funds and register as "foreign-influenced organizations". those who fail to comply will face a fine of up to $9,500.
because russia has passed a similar bill, many opponents call this bill a "russian-style bill." russia claims that the bill is inspired by the foreign funds transparency act passed by the united states nearly 100 years ago. supporters of georgia's "foreign agents act" point out that the european union also has similar provisions.
although the georgian government withdrew the bill earlier under pressure from public protests, the dream party put the bill back on the parliamentary agenda in april this year on the eve of the election. after the bill was passed by parliament in the third reading, president zurabishvili vetoed it and sent it back to parliament. but the government tried again and forced the law through in june, overturning the president's veto - in georgia, the presidency is largely a ceremonial position.
"we have political divisions in georgia, sometimes very deep, but regardless of those divisions, all governments here are clearly pro-western," said margvelashvili, the former president of georgia. "now, for the first time, a government has changed the geopolitical direction of the country... ideologically, this is a huge victory for russia."
the "foreign agents bill" has set off the largest demonstrations in georgia since 1991, when protesters called for the dissolution of the soviet union. anti-government protests in georgia have reportedly subsided as students, the main force of the protests, left the capital tbilisi and returned home, but are widely expected to resume next month as campaigning for the october 26 election gets underway.
for many georgians, this is reminiscent of the events of the last months of former ukrainian president viktor yanukovych's administration. in late 2013, yanukovych abruptly terminated an association agreement with the european union in favor of a trade alliance with russia, sparking mass protests known as the "maidan revolution." yanukovych was forced to step down and a pro-western government came to power in ukraine. russia accused it of being a "color revolution" instigated by the united states.
on the 9th of last month, the russian foreign intelligence service informed the media that the united states was trying to use the results of the october parliamentary elections in georgia to achieve a regime change in georgia, and that the united states had issued instructions to georgian opposition groups to organize protests. the russian foreign intelligence service said that the us plan also included putting the blame for all the misfortunes that georgia had encountered on russia.
according to a report by the russian satellite news agency on august 26, nikita mendekovich, head of the eurasian analytical club, analyzed that the united states will try to influence the results of the georgian parliamentary elections through its agents and non-governmental organizations in order to undermine the stability of the situation near the russian border.
"last year's practice showed that the united states, through its proxies, did its utmost to support anti-government movements and protests involving representatives of local non-governmental organizations (ngos)." mendekovic said that this was because the west was very eager to involve georgia in a new anti-russian war. to this end, the elite based on the georgian dream party must be replaced with pro-western people who aim at an anti-russian war, turning georgia into a springboard for a new anti-russian front.
the wall street journal also pointed out that it is not easy for the fragmented georgian opposition to overthrow the government. according to georgia's election law, a party or a coalition of parties must obtain more than 5% of the votes to win seats in parliament. the largest party in the georgian opposition is the united national movement party founded by saakashvili, but saakashvili's second term was also accused of "human rights violations and arbitrary detention."
the report said that if forced to choose between ivanishvili, who represents the georgian dream party, and saakashvili returning to power, many georgians would prefer the former. mamuka khazaradze, chairman of the opposition lelo party and co-founder of a major georgian bank, said, "because at least they promise peace."
source | observer.com
