The present ongoing protests in Georgia are reminiscent of 2014, the year when the fall of Ukraine started with Euromaidan protests. Why do we say so? Here’s why…
Three months into the year 2023 and it appears this year is going to be crazier than 2022. Up till now, the Ukraine war was limited to the eastern part of Ukraine. But now, spillover effects have started to erupt.
While there are Anti-NATO protests taking place in several European nations, a Pro-NATO and Pro-EU protest has taken the world by surprise. Last week, Protesters carrying Georgian, EU, and Ukrainian flags gathered outside the parliament building and shouted: “No to the Russian law.”
Georgia introduced two laws with the aim to block foreign interference in Georgian politics. The first bill, “On transparency of foreign influence”, aims to ensure transparency and envisages the registration of non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entities and media outlets that receive more than 20% of their income from abroad as agents of foreign influence.
The second bill, “On Registration of Foreign Agents”, mandates any individual or legal entity receiving funding from abroad to register as a foreign agent. The authors claim that the second draft is an exact copy of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) against foreign agents, which was promulgated in 1938 as the US responded to the threat of Nazism and other hostile ideologies.
This has led to a widespread unrest in Georgia. Reportedly, Demonstrators also blocked the city’s central Rustaveli Avenue, after a call from the main opposition party, the United National Movement, to gather there.
However, Western leaders have expressed their full support for Georgia protests, the EU delegation to Georgia welcomed the announcement, saying it wanted to “encourage all political leaders in Georgia to resume pro-EU reforms, in an inclusive and constructive way”.
The EU is also considering Georgia’s application for candidate status. Previously, the European Council president, Charles Michel, warned that the adoption of the so-called foreign agent bill “was not compatible with the EU path”.
EU’s move in support of anarchy has left the Georgian government in doubt. They are now labelling the protestors as an attempt of interference.
Protests: Georgia raises questions
Reportedly, the Georgian PM has accused the west and Ukraine of spreading unrest deliberately. PM Irakli Garibashvili has lashed out at Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for rallying support for the mass protests in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has alleged that Kiev is to blame for the unrest caused by Georgia’s contentious foreign agents’ law and has urged Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to take care of his own nation rather than inciting unrest in Tbilisi.
Garibashvili vehemently denounced Zelensky’s support, accusing him of attempting to establish a “second front” in Georgia against Russia. Earlier this week, Zelensky issued a video address to Georgians, stating that every Ukrainian wishes a “democratic” and “European success” to the country.
Garibashvili also charged Kiev with long-standing efforts to undermine Georgia, which he claimed predated the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He claimed that Kiev specifically sent former Georgian president and current Ukrainian official Mikhail Saakashvili home in October 2021 to stage a “coup”.
“Saakashvili was deliberately sent in; the main objective was to stage a coup here and prompt the nation to go to war. Today, we have no doubts about it,” Garibashvili said.
The PM also claimed that “a few dozen” Georgian fighters returned from Ukraine amid the unrest over the foreign agent’s law and urged them to have no “illusions” over the situation in the country. “We know significantly more than they could imagine,” he warned, adding that no “second front” will take place while the ruling Georgian Dream party remains in power.
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The second front
Now, here the question arises is what exactly is the ‘second front’. Well, Second front is an idea that has been long in the discussions by the NATO allies.
If one remembers, last year in September, there had been reports that NATO allies are vying over the options of opening new fronts against Russia to slow Moscow’s gains in Ukraine.
So, Georgia had proposed holding a referendum and asking if Georgians want war with Russia. Reportedly, the Georgian authorities were considering holding a national referendum on whether or not Georgians want to go to war with Russia.
At a press conference held in the headquarters of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Giorgi Kobakhidze, the party’s chairman, announced the motion in a pretty heroic motion.
Mr Kobakhidze had emphasized, “Let the people decide if they want to open a second front in Georgia against Russia.” He further added, “We will act as people say.”
However, PM Garibashvili, later on, derailed these plans saying that Georgia could turn into a “shooting range” if opposition leaders had managed to take control of the country. He said that Kyiv harassed Tbilisi to join the confrontation with Russia.
It is worth noting now when, Russia is again advancing into crucial Ukrainian cities, the accusations of a ‘second front’ have started emerging. But, because ‘The PM of the Georgian Dream Party’ is against the motion, protests have widened across the Georgia.
This appears to be own Euromaidan protests of Georgia to ensure Georgia goes down the Ukraine way.
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Euromaidan reboot
It was only Euromaidan protests, also known as the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity, that hastened Ukraine’s shift to the West. The civil unrest that began in November 2013 started after then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to suspend negotiations with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.
As the Georgia protests grew in size and intensity, the Ukrainian government responded with force, using riot police and special forces to disperse protesters and impose a state of emergency.
The conflict between the Ukrainian government and the Euromaidan protesters quickly escalated, with clashes becoming increasingly violent. In February 2014, Yanukovych was ousted from power by a coalition of opposition leaders, and a new government was formed.
After that, Ukraine followed every step and statement of Western leaders and now, seven years later, Ukraine is a battleground between Russia and the West.
Georgia is now being pushed upon the same path now.
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Tbilisi didn’t want a war against Moscow as the reports start to emerge that the final battle for Kyiv is about to begin as Russia’s forces are lining up at Ukraine’s borders.
But now, Georgia protests and unrest have now erupted making it sure the Georgian Dream party spirals out of Georgian politics and someone, Pro-West storms into power. The second front against Russia has started to emerge and here on, the escalation of war looks highly likely.
