Thread: Deja Vu : Georgia

In Georgia, an EU revolution is underway: 'We will not face Russia alone'


Terona Macharashvili takes part every day in the massive pro-EU demonstrations in Georgia, which are compared to the deadly Maidan uprising in Ukraine 10 years ago.







A so-called law against foreign influence has brought angry protesters onto the streets of Georgia's capital Tbilisi. (Photo: © Guram Muradov, Civil.ge)

OF

Caroline Sofie Gede
I Georgien er en EU-revolution i gang: '''Vi vil ikke sta overfor Rusland alene''' | EU | DR


This is not the first time Terona Macharashvili has seen herself driven out of her home by the Russians.

During the 1991 war in Abkhazia, her family's house was burned down and they were forced to flee, she says.

"Now it feels like the Russians are about to throw me out of my home again," Terona Macharashvili said, pointing to a law against foreign influence that was first read last week in Georgia's parliament.

The law means that all organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad must be registered as being under "foreign influence."

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  The demonstrations have now entered their second week in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. (Photo: © Guram Muradov, Civil.ge)
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  The ruling party believes that the law can create more transparency in society. But far from everyone agrees on this. (Photo: © Mariam Nikuradze, OC Media)

'We are going to wake up in Russia'


The law is being called the "Russian law" by critics because a similar law was introduced in Russia in 2012. It has made it significantly harder to run a free media and exercise activism in the country.

Terona Macharashvili fears that the same will happen in Georgia. She herself works for the organization Caucasusu Open Space, which stands to be affected by the new law.

- We will not register as someone who is under "foreign influence". Therefore, we may be forced to shut down, says Terona Macharashvili.

The Georgian government defends the law on the grounds that it will create transparency in funding various organizations and points out that the United States also has similar law.







Terona Macharashvili is a lawyer who helped start a pro-EU organisation that risks being shut down if the government's bill is passed. (Photo: © PRIVATE PHOTO)


But Terona Macharashvili is not much for that explanation.

"They won't stop at the organizations. The law will affect every citizen. If we live in a corrupt state again, the personal, political and social rights of Georgian citizens will no longer be protected, she says.

"Then we will wake up in Russia and will have lost our country.

Read also: EU countries give green light to accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova
Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December. And now critics of the law fear it will undermine Georgia's efforts to join the EU. The EU has also already warned Georgia against introducing the law, which the European Parliament calls "incompatible with EU values and democratic principles."

Georgia's Maidan Uprising


The protests in Georgia have ended in several violent clashes between protesters and police - prompting Amnesty International, among others, to warn against the "excessive force of the police against the protesters."

And now they are being compared to the deadly Maidan uprising in Ukraine 10 years ago.

- There are very similarities, says director of the Foreign Policy Society Charlotte Flindt Pedersen to P1 Morgen:

"Most see it as a step into a Russian sphere of influence and away from the EU. And it was the same thing that started the Ukrainian Maidan uprising.

The unrest began when then-President Yanukovych chose not to sign an association agreement with the EU and ended with the deaths of over 100 pro-EU protesters.

The Ukrainian government eventually resigned, and a conflict broke out between Russia and Ukraine when Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula.

Back then, it was especially the violence against the students that caused the riots to escalate, says Charlotte Flindt Pedersen:

"This prompted ordinary Ukrainians to also support the demonstrations. It will be interesting to see whether the violence will have the same consequences in Georgia.

"I fear the worst. This is a showdown, and the government knows that it will not be easy, says Charlotte Flindt Pedersen.

Fearing the neighbor to the north


Charlotte Flindt Pedersen points out that Georgia is in a particularly vulnerable situation both geographically - due to access to the Black Sea - and politically.

And there have also been frictions and conflicts in relations between Georgia and Russia on several occasions before. In 2008, the two fought each other over a territory in South Ossetia.







According to Terona Macharashvili, it is also the fear of a Russian invasion that fills the protesters.

Read also: Georgia in spaghetti between East and West: Trucks queuing up to bring goods to Russia
We want to be members of the European Union because our values of human rights, democracy and governance are in line.

EU membership is extra important to Terona Macharashvili right now.

"Being part of the European Union will give us tools to defend our freedom. If we are outside the European Union, we will face Russia alone," Macharashvili said.

FOREIGN COUNTRY


Demonstrations, angry footballers and fights in parliament: 'Russian law' arouses anger in Georgia


Many Georgians fear that its government is pulling Georgia away from the EU and towards Russia.

OF
Sean Coogan

Caroline Sofie Gede

Demonstrationer, vrede fodboldspillere og slaskamp i parlamentet: '''Den russiske lov''' vaekker vrede i Georgien | Udland | DR

The waves are going high in Georgia at the moment, to say the least.

Night after night in recent weeks, numerous demonstrators have taken to the streets of the capital, Tbilisi, where violent clashes have broken out several times with riot police officers who have turned out en masse.

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  Among other things, the demonstrators took to the streets on April 16. (Photo: © David Mdzinarishvili, Ritzau Scanpix)
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  Here they were backed by Jaba Kankava, captain of the Georgian men's national football team. He went to the keys and shared a picture of protesters staring down riot police with the text: "Fuck Russia". (Photo: © YURI KADOBNOV, Scanpix Denmark)

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  At the same time, a number of other prominent national team players shared a similar text on social media, in which they pointed out, among other things, that "Georgia's path is towards Europe", reports The Guardian. (Photo: © IRAKLI GEDENIDZE, Ritzau Scanpix)

Two weeks ago, a brawl broke out in the country's parliament after opposition politician Aleko Elisashvili thrust a fist into the head of Mamuka Mdinaradze of the Georgian ruling party during a debate.

Read also: Georgian MP got fist in face on rostrum
And last night, thousands upon thousands of Georgians again took to the streets armed with banners, slogans and EU flags.


The tensions are linked to a bill that was first read in Georgia's parliament last week and is scheduled for second reading tomorrow.

The bill requires organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to be registered as "foreign agents," Reuters reports.

If that sounds familiar, it's probably because it's reminiscent of a similar law that was introduced in Russia in 2012 and has since been used to shut down both critical media and NGOs.

Read also: Russia's best-known human rights group to disband: 'A big blow to the opposition'

The controversial bill from the Georgian government is therefore called "the Russian law" by its critics.

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  A similar bill was introduced a year ago, but was withdrawn as a result of popular protests. (Photo: © Zurab Tsertsvadze, Associated Press)
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  The protests in Georgia have ended in several violent clashes. This has led Amnesty International, among others, to warn against the "excessive force of the police against the protesters." (Photo: © Zurab Tsertsvadze, Associated Press)

Conversely, the Georgian government defends the law on the grounds that the law is necessary to ensure transparency and combat "pseudo-liberal values" coming in from outside.

The same government has called for demonstrations of support today ahead of Parliament's second reading of the bill tomorrow.

Many Georgians fear that the government is pulling Georgia away from the EU and towards Russia, says Matilde Kimer in this lightning analysis:





Crossing a red line


After years of efforts to move closer to the EU, Georgia was granted EU candidate status back in December.

But the law on foreign influence is causing concern in Brussels, which has said it sees it as "a very worrying development" and that adopting the law would have "a negative effect" on Georgia's path towards EU membership.

Read also: Bill on 'foreign agents' creates violent protests in Georgia


"This law is not in line with the EU's fundamental norms and values," the European Commission said last week.






And only last Thursday, a large majority in the European Parliament voted to condemn the draft law and state that the EU should not open accession negotiations with Georgia while the law is in question.

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  The violent demonstrations in Georgia have been compared to the deadly Maidan uprising in Ukraine a decade ago. (Photo: © -, Ritzau Scanpix)
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  The Ukrainian protests began when then-President Yanukovych chose not to sign an association agreement with the EU in 2014. The violent clashes ended up claiming the lives of more than 100 pro-EU demonstrators. (Photo: © DIMITAR DILKOFF, Scanpix Denmark)

In Denmark, too, the bill arouses sharp criticism.

"It should be no secret that the line taken by the government in Georgia with more and more pro-Russian tendencies is extremely worrying," said Michael Aastrup Jensen (V), chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee.

Read also: EU countries give green light to accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova
He feels that the Georgian government, on the one hand, has a legitimate desire to become a member of the EU, but at the same time tries to shut down its critics with its controversial bill. And it will not work if you want to be an EU country, Michael Aastrup Jensen points out.






One of the pro-European banners at yesterday's demonstration. (Photo: © GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE, Ritzau Scanpix)
It is not European democracy to try to shut down critical voices in civil society organisations. And therefore, if you have said A, then you should also say B and stay away from such laws.

The Georgian government says it is to create transparency and says that countries like the United States have similar legislation. What do you say to that explanation?

"It's exactly the same bad excuse that was used in Russia when it introduced the same thing years ago. Everyone can see through that.

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  The Georgian government has opened up for more air connections and more trade with Russia, while at the same time reducing criticism of the neighboring country, says Michael Aastrup Jensen. (Photo: © Uncredited, Associated Press)
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  "So all in all, you send some mixed signals, where on the one hand you say that you want to be part of the rest of Europe, but on the other hand you approach rhetorically, and with the other measures you take, Putin's regime," says Michael Aastrup Jensen. (Photo: © Zurab Tsertsvadze, Associated Press)

I, if anyone, want Georgia to come to the European Union and become closer and closer to us in Europe. At the same time, however, it should not be a carte blanche for the government to do what it wants. And this is a red line for me.

Danes experience great resistance to the development


Danish Ejvind Spence has been living in Tbilisi since February, where he is doing an internship at a drawing room.

He lives very close to the parliament building and has participated in several recent demonstrations against the government's bill. Including last night.

"It was a huge demonstration," Spence said.

He says that the young Georgians he talks to say they have never experienced such a large demonstration before.

The Georgians, with whom Ejvind Spence associates, see the bill as a move away from a European future, he says:

The Dane experiences a pervasive fear of approaching Russia, which invaded parts of Georgia in 2008.

Read also: Georgia started and Russia exaggerated
"There is clearly an anti-Russia sentiment, and then there is clearly an idea that the government is playing into Russia's hands or is somehow being funded by them or supporting them. One of the things shouted at the parliament building yesterday was also 'Russians, Russians, Russians', the Dane said.

Read also: Protests in Georgia after cameraman found dead
Georgian Irina Gerkeuli has lived in Denmark for over 30 years, but follows the situation in her country of birth closely.

She, too, sees a Georgia where the population has a great desire to move closer to the EU rather than its neighbour Russia.

"I can't understand why they've taken this bill forward again when they know how much opposition it will face," she said.

Anyone has an opinion on 'Registration as a foreign Agent' ?

I must admit it’s hard to argue with the idea (on the surface) that they need to report foreign funding… it’s the full implications I do not really understand.

Originally Posted by DrWilly

I must admit it’s hard to argue with the idea (on the surface) that they need to report foreign funding…

That's a problem

You know who funds them

The ones who have had the same "Russian Law" since the 1930ies.

Deja Vu


If the opposition is so bloody strong, as the western press claims, then wait for the next election, and maybe we can have peace on earth.

Lounge llizards them Danes nice work if you can get it.

Originally Posted by helge

Danish Ejvind Spence has been living in Tbilisi since February, where he is doing an internship at a drawing room.

Lounge llizards them Danes nice work if you can get it.

Originally Posted by david44

an internship at a drawing room.

Where you 'draw'

Do you want a piece of me, Paulie ?


(architect apprentice or such)

For the record: I do not translate or read what I post !

Originally Posted by helge

For the record: I do not translate or read what I post !

I prefer not to think before speaking.
I like being just as surprised as everyone else by what comes out of my mouth.

Originally Posted by Molle

I prefer not to think before speaking.
I like being just as surprised as everyone else by what comes out of my mouth.

it does appear that way, doesn’t it?