Essential Russia has threatened the Georgian people after intense demonstrations against a law that its critics likened to repressive Russian legislation.
After three days of violent demonstrations in Georgia, Russia is pulling out its claws. The Georgian people have forced their government to abandon a law that would classify NGOs and media outlets that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad as “foreign agents” under threat of fines. For its part, Russia has portrayed the Georgian insurgency as an “attempted” Western coup d’etat.
The Russian presidency said it sees in this mobilization “the hand” of the United States, which seeks to provoke “anti-Russian sentiment.” For Moscow, this mobilization was a “pretext to start an attempt at regime change by force,” according to the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov. He compared the protests to Ukraine’s 2014 revolution, which Moscow sees as a Western-fomented coup that has been backing Ukraine for a year in the face of Russia’s invasion. It is therefore a sign that “someone with a clearly visible hand is trying to provoke anti-Russian sentiment,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an indictment clearly aimed at Washington.
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A similar analysis was made by the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Crimea: “The demonstrations raised in Tbilisi around the draft law against ‘foreign agents’ lead to calls for the resignation of the government,” he wrote. And this one to warn: “We recommend the Georgian people to remember a similar situation in Ukraine in 2014 and what it ultimately led to”.
“Very strong pressure”
The demonstrations that have swept through Georgia in recent days illustrate the political crisis that has shaken Georgia, a Caucasian EU candidate country where part of the population fears an authoritarian slide along the lines of Russia, for several years. The demonstrators and the opposition also compared the abandoned law to a text in force in Russia about “foreign agents”, which was used to silence anti-Kremlin opponents. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously attacked Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili – a pro-Western government critic with limited powers – stressing that she welcomed the announcement of the government’s departure as a “victory”. Text “not from Georgia, but from America”.
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In the evening, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his support to President Surabishvili and assured her that “Germany supports Georgia on its way to Europe”. “This path includes freedom of the press and civil society,” he added. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the “very strong pressure” on Georgia, “crossed by worrying movements” and called for “appeasement on regional tensions”.
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The announcement of the withdrawal of the controversial bill was welcomed by Washington and the European Union on Thursday. Georgia, a former Soviet republic that was defeated in a brief war against Russia in 2008, officially aspires to join the European Union and NATO.