TBILISI Sakartvelo, Sakartvelo, echoes the rhythmic cry of tens of thousands of demonstrators in front of the Georgian Parliament House.
Sakartvelo is the name of Georgia in the country’s own language. The slogan tells what the demonstrations are about. Georgians want to break away from Russia and the heavy legacy of Soviet occupation.
– We are Europeans, this is how we have experienced it forever. We know Russia and we don’t want to be a part of it. If we stay alone, we will be surrounded by Russia, says Giorgi Butikashvili.
Butikašvili rose from the ranks of the opposition to the parliament in the elections held a month ago. His work at Georgia’s dramatic turning point has had anything but a traditional start. Butikašvili refuses to go to parliament, like all other opposition MPs.
– We cannot participate in the activities of an illegal parliament. The elections were not fair, that’s why the parliament is also illegal, he says.
The October elections were not democratic, says the EU Parliament, among others. There is electoral fraud lots of display.
Violent protests broke out about a week ago when the ruling Georgian Dream party announced that it would halt Georgia’s EU membership process.
When meets Butikašvili at the party office, the sounds of fireworks can be heard from the street. Demonstrators shoot rockets at the parliament building there, while riot police shoot water and tear gas.
The anger is directed at the parliament building because the ruling party Georgian Dream seized power illegally, Butikašvili explains.
You can also see the exceptional conditions in the office of the Akhali minor party. Paper sticks have been pushed aside. There are face masks and saline ampoules on the tables. They are needed to treat the eyes after the tear gas used by the riot police.
– We try to support the protesters, especially those fighting the police on the front line. Many of them are young, says Butikašvili.
– In this darkness, it is a glimmer of light to see how fearlessly young people fight for democracy and Europeanness.
The president also blames widespread election fraud
The police have used severe violence against the demonstrators. There are videos on social media in which police brutally kick protesters lying on the ground in the head.
Active members of Butikašvili’s opposition party have also been abused. Shortly after left the party office, the police raided there. You can see from the videohow the police carry out the protesters who sought protection.
The president of Georgia has also joined the protests Salome Zurabishvili. Pictures of the president talking to riot police spread around the world.
– Do you serve Russia or Georgia? You should protect the state and its citizens and not disperse demonstrations, Zurabishvili said.
The president has the support of the people because he was elected in fair elections four years ago. In a couple of weeks, the parliament is supposed to choose his successor, but Zurabišvili has announced that he will refuse to resign because, according to him, an illegal parliament cannot choose a successor. He blames the ruling party election fraud.
See journalist Antti Kuronen’s report on the weekend’s protests below:
The richest man in Georgia is pulling the strings
Georgia’s slide into authoritarianism and away from the EU path has happened gradually. In 12 years, the leading party of the country, the Georgian Dream, has changed from a party that won elections in free elections to an authoritarian force.
The Georgian dream is one man’s Bidzina Ivanishvilicreation. Ivanishvili is an oligarch who became rich in Russia in the 1990s.
In 2012, he was a breath of fresh air in the politics of a poor country. He won the election by promising prosperity and economic reforms.
He also promised to push for EU membership. It is essential in a country where approx eighty percent of the people supports EU membership. The pursuit of membership is even written into the constitution.
Ivanišvili’s true, anti-EU intentions became clear to Georgians last year at the latest, when the ruling party passed the law on foreign agents. The law corresponds to Russian agent laws that suppress civil society and is not compatible with EU membership.
Now the situation is critical, and that’s why the demonstrations have become more violent than before.
The EU Parliament demands that the elections be renewed
There are tens of thousands of people at the main stage of the demonstrations on Rustavali street, even though it is already close to one in the morning.
– Now it’s almost official that the government wants us to return to Russia and become part of their empire. This is the last step, says Ilia Ghlonti.
Ghlonti leads an NGO called Daitove, which has, among other things, trained election observers. He hopes for stronger support from the international community, but says Georgians understand that they have to overthrow the government themselves.
The EU Parliament demandsthat the October parliamentary elections will be renewed and that the EU will impose sanctions and visa bans on the leadership of the Georgian dream.
The United States has cut off strategic cooperation with the Georgian government, and sanctions are expected.
Opposition MP Butikašvili is also calling for tough sanctions against the leaders of the ruling party.
– All party leaders are in contact with Russia. That is why they should be subject to sanctions and visa bans. It would weaken them and support us, says Butikašvili.
Georgia in the same situation as Ukraine
Ruling party The tactics of the Georgian dream include intimidating Russia with an attack. The message is that if the power changed in Georgia, Russia would enter the game.
In the election campaign, the party’s election poster had a picture of a Georgian church. Next to it was a picture of a Ukrainian church destroyed by Russia. The message was clear: either we stay in power or the country faces disaster.
The Georgians are in the same situation as the Ukrainians at the end of 2013. Then the president Viktor Yanukovych cut off Ukraine’s EU path. The protest movement grew into a popular uprising, and at the end of February 2014, President Yanukovych fled to Russia.
The change of power in Ukraine was a disaster for the Russian president For Putinwhich lost its grip on the ground.
Soon, Russia started a war against Ukraine by occupying the Crimean peninsula and the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas. Russia’s hybrid war in Donbas turned into an open war of aggression in February 2022.
For Georgians, the Russian invasion is not just a theoretical threat. It is a reality in the minds of many.
In the 2008 war in Georgia, Russia occupied a fifth of the country. The bases located in the territories occupied by Russia are less than a hundred kilometers from the capital Tbilisi.
Without NATO and EU membership, Georgia, like Ukraine, is in a very vulnerable position.