The protests continue in Georgia • “This kind of thing usually ends very badly”
The protests against the pro-Russian government in Georgia continue.
The former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev calls the whole thing an attempted coup.
– Georgia is approaching the Ukrainian path by leaps and bounds, he says on Telegram.
Dmitry Medvedev – who was Russia’s president from 2008-2012 and prime minister from 2012-2020 – is now a high-ranking member of the country’s Security Council.
He says on the Telegram messaging service that Georgia, with the pro-Western protests, is following the same path as Ukraine.
– They are moving towards a dark precipice. This kind of thing usually ends very badly.
Want to back out of EU talks
The background to the protests in Georgia is the ruling party Georgian Dream’s decision to put plans to achieve EU membership on hold until at least 2028.
The party is pro-Russian and won the most votes in a criticized election in October that has not been recognized by either the opposition or the European Parliament.
Georgia’s EU-friendly president Salomé Zourabichvili has come out and said she does not plan to leave her post when her term expires later in December, as she believes the government does not have the right to appoint a successor.
Putin with green light to new war budget
In parallel, Russia’s incumbent President Vladimir Putin on Sunday gave the green light to the new Russian budget, where military spending is reported to reach record highs, writes Kyiv Independent.
In 2025, the military and law enforcement agencies are said to receive 126 billion dollars from the treasury – a share that corresponds to over six percent of the country’s GDP.
The sum exceeds what is earmarked for education, healthcare, social policy and the economy – together.