For over a week, Georgia has been in turmoil, with daily demonstrations triggered by the government’s decision on November 28 to suspend the former Soviet republic’s accession process to the European Union.
This protest movement, which has spread from the capital Tbilisi to several cities across the country, is being violently repressed. The police are deliberately targeting journalists, hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested and opposition leaders have been arrested and brutalized. The prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has promised to “do everything necessary to completely eradicate liberal fascism” from the opposition. Echoing Ukraine’s Maidan revolution in 2014, the message from Georgian protesters is clear: they accuse those in power of wanting to keep their country in Russia’s orbit, rejecting this trajectory and calling instead for further rapprochement with the EU.
Backed by Georgia’s pro-European president, Salomé Zourabichvili, they are also calling for new elections and reject the results of the October 26 vote, which was marred by irregularities noted by numerous foreign observers and won by the Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for 12 years. The president, whose term of office ends this month, has pledged to remain in office as she contests the legitimacy of the parliament that emerged from the ballot box to elect her successor.
Read more Subscribers only Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili: ‘This is a vital moment for the country, and I hope the outcome will not be tragic’
Discomfited, most EU countries have so far confined themselves to condemning the violence and calling on the Georgian government to get back on the European track. Some are considering following the Baltic states, which have announced sanctions against those responsible for the repression. They are reluctant to come out in favor of new elections, considering that, despite the irregularities, Georgian Dream was undoubtedly in a dominant position.
This lack of firmness obviously plays into the hands of the Kremlin, which makes no secret of its desire to keep the post-Soviet space under its thumb. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Malta on Thursday, December 5, warned the West that it must “understand that [Moscow would] be ready to use any means to prevent them from achieving what they call ‘Russia’s strategic defeat.'”
The warning mainly targets Ukraine, but there is no doubt that Russia is orchestrating the manipulations that marked the latest elections in Moldova, Georgia, and most recently, Romania.
The first round of Romania’s presidential election on November 24 stands out as one of the most questionable in EU history. A pro-Russian candidate, Calin Georgescu, seemingly emerged from nowhere to secure nearly 23% of the vote, after campaigning almost exclusively on TikTok. The Romanian security services confirmed on Wednesday what many media had detected: This sudden popularity is the result of a manipulation operation that cost several hundred thousand euros, and whose “modus operandi and scale” suggest an unnamed state actor, who can only be Russia.
Read more Subscribers only In Romania, ‘no one knew anything’ about Calin Georgescu, winner of first round of presidential elections
Let’s face it: Vladimir Putin’s regime is waging its hybrid war right up to the heart of the EU. Failing to react firmly in Georgia on the pretext that the situation lacks clarity can only encourage him to continue, both there and elsewhere.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
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Publish date : 2024-12-06 01:58:00
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