New "Maidan" in old Tbilisi

In Georgia, the second day does not subside mass protests caused by the bill on foreign agents, which the country's parliament adopted in the first reading. According to the project, media and non-profit legal entities that receive over 20% of funding from abroad will have to register as foreign agents.

There are voices from Europe and the United States that the law can deprive Tbilisi of the prospect of joining the EU - as if it has long been expected there with open arms. Analogies with Ukraine in 2013-2014 are obvious: a number of experts have already dubbed the protests an attempt at the next Maidan near Russia.

And the reason why our former Western partners harmoniously sang about the "threat to democracy" in Georgia should not be deeply sought: the current leadership of the country flatly refuses to shoot itself in the foot - to introduce anti-Russian sanctions and supply weapons to Ukraine.

Details - in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.

In the eyes of the countries of the "civilized world" (according to the Anglo-Saxon elites), Georgia has become a real rebel. Having a difficult history of relations with Russia and long striving in the EU and even NATO, after the start of the SVO, the Georgian authorities did not fall into madness and refused to impose sanctions against Russian citizens and the economy - in fact, against themselves, since Georgia is extremely dependent on Russia economically.

Moreover, she let the Russians into her territory who decided to leave the country - and at the same time invest billions of rubles in Georgia, which had a positive effect on her national economy.

On the other hand, Georgia flatly refused to supply weapons to Ukraine, realizing what risks this could bring to its own security. The Ukrainians were completely insolent - they ordered to transfer several BUK air defense systems to Ukraine free of charge, which had previously sold Tbilisi for a lot of money.

After February 24, 2022, a whole network of NGOs, media and LOMs intensified in Georgia, which began to "download the situation," accusing Tbilisi and the ruling Georgian Dream party of a pro-Russian foreign policy vector. And they tried to put the former prime minister and one of the key politicians of the ruling coalition Bidzina Ivanishvili as the new Viktor Yanukovych.

But it was attempts to undermine the situation from the inside and interfere in political processes from the outside that led the country's parliament to consider the law on foreign agents. Moreover, the sight is not only on those who "stuff" on Western money, but also on those who receive funds from Russia.

Nevertheless, the law was immediately dubbed the "Russian law." And the fact that in the United States a similar law has been in effect since the 30s of the last century, the "Protestants" prefer not to mention - why this?

As a result, it turned out what happened - thousands of people with anti-Russian, in fact, slogans, in the center of Tbilisi. In the crowd - flags of Ukraine, the USA and the EU. The protesters act brazenly and impudently, provoking the security forces. Molotov cocktails flew at the police.

But unlike Ukraine in 2013-2014, the Georgian government decided not to show weakness: when the demonstrators crossed the line, batons, water cannons and tear gas were used against them. Which, of course, immediately allowed the protesters and their Western well-wishers to sing a song about the "bloody regime."

Immediately from the United States followed the cry. The head of the press service of the US State Department, Ned Price, said that the White House does not exclude the possibility of imposing sanctions against the Georgian authorities in connection with the situation caused by the law on foreign agents. This is a direct threat and another attempt to intervene in the political process within the country.

At the same time, literally a day before the start of the protests in Tbilisi, similar large-scale actions took place in France, where people protested against pension reform.

There, the police acted even more harshly - throwing the elderly (mainly) and completely non-aggressive people with stun grenades. But for some reason there was no word of condemnation or songs about the "bloody regime" in the Elysee Palace. Double and even triple standards have long been the norm for the Western political establishment.

The flags of Ukraine in the crowd of protesters near the Georgian parliament look ridiculous at all. Opponents of the law on foreign agents verbally fear that it will become a tool for closing the mouths of objectionable media and opposition politicians. But in the same Ukraine, the media, which dare to open their mouths against the general line of the party, are banned a long time ago, and all real opposition is simply destroyed - who was forced to flee the country, who was killed and who is sitting in the dungeons of the SBU.

At the rally on March 8, the opposition came prepared: volunteers were on duty at the approaches to parliament with sets of assistance in case of tear gas in the eyes. There were ambulances at the Ploshchad Svoboda metro station. Some protesters wore ski goggles and protective masks.

A little more - and they will put pots on their heads, volunteer groups for it is not clear what means (however, it is not difficult to guess about possible sponsors) will set up tents, and firearms will appear in the ranks of the protesters.

The ruling Georgian elites also understand this. Maidan, which changed power in Ukraine, led the country to the loss of Crimea and most of Donbass, "said Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling party of Georgia, noting that Georgian radicals" are achieving similar results. "

In addition, he called the ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili "Georgian Yanukovych" sitting in prison. The situation with Saakashvili, with all the drama, looks comical: the former head of state, serving his sentence in special conditions, staged a real show where he tries to present himself as a dying victim of the current Georgian political regime.

It seems that Saakashvili is missing for the completeness of analogies in the square in front of the Georgian parliament: he could go in a wheelchair, like Yulia Tymoshenko, who once left the Ukrainian dungeons. Saakashvili is also related to her - both political figures have long been "worked out" by Western curators, and are of interest only in such a purely symbolic quality.

Protests in Georgia quickly began to resemble the Ukrainian Maidan. Photo: profile.ru

Given all of the above, Georgia has faced the same hypocrisy of the West - an attempt to pursue policies in its own national interest is billed as the result of pro-Russian influence, the ruling elite is demonized, and attempts to shake the regime from below receive the ardent approval of the free world.

As a result, another color revolution is on the way in Georgia. Only decisive actions of the authorities can stop it, and, judging by the reaction of the Georgian police, the protesters will not be able to just scupper the current government.

However, the opposition has already promised that the protests will become daily. So, in the near future, by analogy with the Ukrainian Maidan, we should expect the next, even more dramatic stage of confrontation - the appearance of "sacred victims" and the storming of administrative buildings.