RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The EU would have demanded that Georgia opens a second front against Russia as a condition for the country to be granted candidate status. An outrageous accusation. But this is what it says in black and white in a report in the German reference newspaper FAZ.
Under the title “Why the EU treats Georgia differently,” the FAZ report said that the country and its people were insulted because Georgia was still not granted candidate status but only a list of demands.
As a result, Garibashvili wants to “tell secrets” to his people, even though it remains unclear in detail which secrets these should be.
… But the first reaction of the chairman of the ruling party “Georgian Dream”, Irakli Kobachidze, already makes the thrust clear: Georgia had not received candidate status “because, unlike Ukraine and even Moldova, it was not prepared to make the sacrifices” that were necessary for this, said Kobachidze. He was thus echoing what politicians and the ruling party’s media have been telling Georgians for weeks: that the West was demanding the opening of a second front against Russia in Georgia as the price for EU candidate status. But the government is doing everything it can to prevent the war in Ukraine from spreading to Georgia.
PEOPLE WANT PEACE
People in Georgia are no different than anywhere else in the world. They want to live in peace and tranquility, do business and not live in constant fear of war. Back in 2008, in what is now known as the “Russo-Georgian war,” the country was maneuvered into a senseless conflict with Russia, which was decided within a few days and cost far too many lives.
Violent, Putinist groups have been holding anti-Western rallies at several locations in Tbilisi today.
Some tore up the EU flag in front of the EU Delegation Office and then burned it.
They oppose the closed-door event of the Tbilisi Pride festival and want to disrupt it. pic.twitter.com/gXYpE4RlpY— Georgia Today (@GeorgiaToday_GT) July 2, 2022
Western diplomats reject the Georgian government’s claim. The U.S. ambassador raised the accusation of spreading Russian disinformation.
The real reasons for Georgia not being granted candidate status is to be found in the EU Commission’s recommendations to the country, they say. In the first place, these recommendations call for overcoming political polarization through cross-party cooperation “in the spirit of the April 19 agreement.
Massive protests are taking place #Georgia, in which thousands of people participate. In #Tbilisi, protesters demanded the US Ambassador to Georgia, Degnan, and the head of the EU mission Harzel, to leave the country. The protesters tore up the flags of European Union and NATO pic.twitter.com/Jc7ewSu6aU
— Thomas Welschen (@TWelschen) July 2, 2022
Western legacy media claim that most Georgians want to join the EU. No one knows for sure if this is true. Many posts on Twitter are testimony to the contrary.
It is to be expected that the fire will continue to be lit in Georgia, which has a long border with Russia, and we will hear a lot more from this country in the coming weeks and months.