GEORGIA: Protests against Suspending EU Talks & more – 5th Dec 2024

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 5th of December twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Thursday, the 28th, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would suspend ascension talks with the EU until twenty twenty-eight. This decision sparked massive unrest across the country. Tens of thousands gathered in front of parliament to protest against the move, considering it a betrayal of Georgia's Constitution as Article seventy-eight requires every branch of government to take steps toward Georgia's integration into the EU and NATO.

The situation worsened when authorities brutally beat and arrested demonstrators, which led to even more people to join the protests. So far, each day until now has followed a similar pattern: people gather in front of parliament, police use water cannons and tear gas to disperse them, while protesters build barricades and fire back with fireworks. More than 300 people have been arrested, and eighty percent of them show signs of brutal beatings.

Many videos of police brutality emerged, with some Georgian celebrities reposting them, showing their support for the protests.

On that note about the demonstrations, on Sunday, the 1st, The Ministers of Foreign Affairs from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia announced on Twitter that they decided to sanction Georgian officials who were trying to suppress legitimate protests in the country. In their joint statement, the ministers said that they didn’t welcome people who oppose democracy and violate human rights in their countries. Soon after, Canada joined them on imposing the sanctions. Several days later, Svenja Schulze, the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, shared on Twitter that Germany would not carry out new projects and sign new agreements with the current Georgian government.

On Wednesday, the 4th, TV channel Mtavari released a list of 100 individuals involved in the violent suppression of protests, identifying them as members of the Special Task Department. These officers, known for wearing masks during crackdowns, had previously kept their identities secret. After the list was made public, social media users quickly began searching for and sharing the Facebook profiles of those named. Mtavari reported that the information had been leaked from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In response to the exposure, the members of the Special Task Force began deleting their social media accounts.

Ilia Topuria, the current MMA champion in the featherweight division, showed his support for the protests happening in his homeland. On Monday, the 2nd, Topuria shared an Instagram story expressing his backing for demonstrations and condemning police brutality. He said it was shameful how the police were treating the protesters and criticized the government’s decision to suspend negotiations with the EU.

Five ambassadors have left their posts since Prime Minister Kobakhidze announced the suspension of the EU accession talks. These are the ambassadors to Bulgaria, Italy, the Netherlands, Czechia, and the US. The most notable among them is Ambassador to the U.S. David Zakaliani. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty-two before being appointed as an ambassador. There were rumors that his relationship with Prime Minister Kobakhidze had soured after Kobakhidze was disinvited from Biden’s UN reception three months ago. However, Zakaliani’s resignation is more likely connected to the U.S. declaring a suspension of its strategic partnership with Georgia. Still, Zalkianiani did not officially say why he resigned. The Deputy of Foreign Affairs Minister also stepped down.

Next up, on Wednesday, the 4th, the police raided opposition offices and the homes of activists. They entered several offices of the Coalition for Change - Gvaramia, Melia, Girchi, Droa or Tsvlilebebistvis and the United National Movement or Natsebi. During the operation, Nika Gvaramia, the leader of Tsvlilebebistvis, had a verbal altercation with the police, demanding to be allowed into his office. The police arrested him using force and dragged him into the police car. Gvaramia struggled to breathe after sustaining injuries and lost consciousness. He was arrested on charges of resisting the police and is expected to be released within forty-eight hours.

During the day, the police arrested five members of Natsebi’s youth movement, one member of Girchi - More Freedom, and two members of Lelo for Georgia. They also entered the homes of civil activists Ilia Glonti and Qristina Botkoveli, who run the Facebook group Daitove with over 230,000 members, where they discuss the political situation in Georgia.

In other news, during a briefing on Tuesday, the 3rd, President Zurabishvili stated that she is currently the only legitimate institution operating in the country. She accused Bidzina Ivanishvili of usurping power and creating a violent regime. She said that it was her responsibility to lead the country to new parliamentary elections, which are needed to form a legitimate government.

Zurabishvili's term officially ends in December. The public will not vote for the next president. It will be chosen by an electoral college. The Georgian Dream or Kotsebi has already presented their candidate for Presidency - Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former footballer and their MP. However, President Zurabishvili insists she will not step down until new elections are held and a legitimate government is formed.

Also on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court of Georgia, the highest judicial authority in the country, dismissed a case brought by the President and opposition parties. They argued that the election results should be deemed unconstitutional because two fundamental electoral rights—the secrecy of votes and the accessibility of voting—were not upheld. Regarding secrecy, the voters’ mark on the ballot was visible on the other side of the paper, revealing their choice. In terms of accessibility, voting stations in foreign territories lacked the capacity to allow everyone who wished to vote to do so. This was evident from the massive queues on election day, where many people could not vote due to significant delays.

Had the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the President and opposition, new elections would have been required.

On Thursay the 28th of November, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, gave a thumbs-up to the Georgian government. He recalled how amazed he was by Kotsebi’s bravery in defending their position on the Russian law. He praised the Georgian government for not backing down despite protests and pressure from inside and outside the country and still passing the law.

On Tuesday, the 3rd, the Georgian Legion, a military unit operating in Ukraine mostly made up of Georgians, issued a statement on Twitter denying rumors that they planned to return to Georgia and join the protests. According to their official Twitter account, Russian propaganda was behind these rumors. Despite supporting the ongoing protests in their homeland, the Legion emphasized that their battle remains in Ukraine, where they fight against the common enemy of both countries.

President Zourabishvili re-shared the statement on Twitter, aiming to calm fears of the political crisis escalating into armed conflict.

It seems Georgia is on everyone's mind this week, even in American politics. A case in point is John Bolton, the former national security adviser, who compared Kash Patel, Trump's nominee to head the FBI, to Stalin's right-hand man and fellow countryman, Lavrentiy Beria. Beria was the head of the secret police, the NKVD, the most feared institution in the Soviet Union. His department was notorious for kidnapping and torturing political opponents and undesirables. Beria himself wielded enormous power and was despised even by his allies. So, after Stalin’s death, he was arrested, tried for treason, and executed.

Let’s wrap up this edition with a very interesting discovery. Recent archaeological excavations near Lake Bashplemi uncovered a basalt tablet with sixty symbols. Thirty-nine of them are unique and not found in other known writing systems. Dating from the Late Bronze or Early Iron Age, the tablet could reveal insights into the region’s ancient civilizations. The symbols suggest potential uses for recording religious, administrative, or military information.

While some symbols resemble ancient scripts from the Caucasus, Near East, and Europe, the inscription may represent an independent or proto-writing system.

This discovery challenges assumptions about ancient Caucasian writings and adds complexity to the region’s cultural history.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Do you know that besides the Rorshok Georgia Update, we also do others? Our latest ones are the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the world covered in salt water, and the Multilateral Update, about the world’s major multilateral institutions. The other ones are all country updates, we have a selection of countries from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. Check roroshok.com/updates for the full list, the link is in the show notes.

Nakhvamdis!