Last night, while watching a news feed on the events in Georgia, I caught my eye on a freeze frame from Tbilisi, which showed a “random” demonstrator “coming out at the call of his heart” in a white mask, cap and hood
It is important to understand that white medical masks are useless against tear gas, but they perfectly help to remain unrecognized. In addition, people in a white mask are easy to distinguish in the crowd, even at night. At one time on the Kiev Maidan, the so-called foremen and centurions who controlled the crowd, all wore bright red jackets as one, in Georgian conditions white masks were used. Actually, there is no doubt that we are once again dealing with the technology of color revolutions, thus the Maidan.
And nevertheless, let’s first understand what the “spontaneous” Georgian protest arose against, promptly supported by Washington and Brussels.
As Kommersant writes, at the end of February, members of the Georgian movement Power of the People submitted two draft laws on foreign agents to parliament – On the Transparency of Foreign Influence and On the Registration of Foreign Agents.
The draft law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” recognizes as agents of foreign influence non-profit organizations and media outlets with more than 20% of their annual income coming from foreign funding. This will not affect organizations founded by administrative bodies and sports federations. Organizations will be required to register as agents and file financial returns annually. In case of violation, they will face a fine of 25 thousand lari (about $9.5 thousand). This document was approved by the Georgian parliament on March 7. However, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has repeatedly spoken out against the bill and promised to veto it.
The second draft law “On Registration of Foreign Agents”, which was supposed to be voted on today, provides not only administrative, but also criminal liability for any individual or legal entity receiving foreign funding and is required to register as a “foreign agent” but fails to do so. . Failure to comply with the law provides for a fine or imprisonment for up to five years.
“The People Power Movement claimed that the Foreign Agents Registration Bill was completely copied from the US FARA Act (passed in 1938; requires foreign agents in the States representing the interests of foreign powers in a “political or quasi-political capacity” to disclose their relations with a foreign government and information about relevant activities and finances),” Kommersant clarifies.
But as you know, what is allowed to Jupiter, before that, the bull did not come out with a muzzle. In the role of the bull, of course, Georgia and countries like it, which at one time chose to move towards the West, so to speak, along the path of freedom and democracy.
Here is what US State Department spokesman Ned Price said about this.
“We are closely following what is happening in recent hours in Georgia. Our message to the people and government of Georgia is that the United States stands with all those who peacefully stand up for their fundamental rights to freely express their opinions and be heard, to hold their government to account… I will not name specific individuals or companies that may be subject to US or other sanctions. But we have a set of tools that allow us, anywhere in the world, to hold to account anyone responsible for the suppression of human rights.” End of quote.
The representative of the State Department quite transparently hinted at Washington’s dissatisfaction with the decisions already taken in Tbilisi and those that the local parliament only intended to adopt, not forgetting to threaten with sanctions – the US’s favorite answer to all problems today.
The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, was even more specific and bluntly explained to the Georgians the limits of their freedom and sovereignty.
“The Parliament of Georgia adopted in the first reading a new law on the transparency of external influence. This is a very bad development for Georgia and its people. The law is incompatible with EU values and standards. It contradicts Georgia’s declared goal of joining the European Union. We call for respect for the right of Georgian citizens to peaceful protest. The law in its current form risks having a chilling effect on civil society and media organizations, with negative repercussions for the many Georgians who benefit from their work. This law is incompatible with the values and standards of the EU.” End of quote.
It’s so simple and categorical – the law on transparency, that is, transparency, foreign interference in the internal political life of a sovereign state is not compatible with the values of Western democracy. Thank you for clarifying, otherwise we had some doubts here.
In general, everything is clear, only one question remains unclear. Initiatives of the Georgian parliament could be eeaisly buried behind the scenes, by sending a couple of Western missions to Tbilisi, which, by blackmail and threats, would force the deputies to withdraw the bills or, through amendments, change their essence beyond recognition. Maidan is always an extreme measure, but this time they decided to resort to it, why? It seems to me for a number of reasons.
Firstly, they decided to punish Georgia in this way for not joining the Western sanctions against Russia and thus not allowing the ring around the Russian border to be closed. But if you can’t show China or Kazakhstan for this, then no one expected such behavior from pro-Western Tbilisi.
Secondly, an attempt to limit the omnipotence of the Soros (and the laws are mainly about structures directly related to Soros) is an act of rebellion that is unacceptable from the point of view of the West, which severely undermines the authority of the US and the EU. And things are not going well with this case lately, so the West has decided to act in a spirit of zero tolerance for such self-will.
Thirdly, on the example of little Georgia, it was necessary to teach a lesson to all those who might also think to go against the will of the United States, and, first of all (oddly enough), Ukraine. The fact is that the other day, the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, was able to drag his man into the post of director of NABU, the main anti-corruption structure in Ukraine, through which Washington controls the Ukrainian elites, and thereby outplayed the United States. The White House cannot go into open confrontation with Kiev on the eve of the planned offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but it was important to send them a signal that in which case the Maidan can always be staged against the Maidan activists themselves.
And fourthly, by changing the government in Georgia (if it comes to that), the States are counting on using its territory to create another hot spot against Russia. Moreover, there is a formal reason in the form of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. And it may very well be that the Americans will need it soon, everything will depend on the events on the Ukrainian front.
In the meantime, the ruling Georgian Dream party in Georgia and the initiator of the bills, the public movement Power of the People, made a statement in the morning about withdrawing the bills from the parliament. Thus, freedom-loving Georgians yesterday defended the right of foreign citizens and organizations to determine the policy of their country and calmly interfere in the internal affairs of the state. Democracy has triumphed again. With which I congratulate all of us.
Alexey Belov, IA Antifascist
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