Demonstration in Milan, on the morning of Saturday 26 October, on the occasion of the political elections in Georgia. It was organized by Europa Radicale and Atlantic Bridge, while some ER militants went to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, to monitor the vote and meet parliamentarians, journalists and NGOs. The demonstrators gathered first, at 11 am, in Loggia dei Mercanti; then some of them went in front of the Georgian consulate, in via Foscolo, where a long queue of Georgians resident in Italy was waiting to vote.
Fracture between pro-Europeans and pro-Russians
In addition to the Georgian and European Union flags, the demonstrators displayed a Radical Europe banner with the words “Georgia is not Russia”. The Georgian elections are strongly characterized by the fracture between pro-Europeans and pro-Russians. The president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, a convinced pro-European, believes that the victory of the pro-EU front is an “existential battle” and that these are the most important elections since 1991, when the country broke away from the USSR. And he adds that the vast majority of the population is pro-European.
On the opposite front, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and the ‘Georgian Dream’ party in power, ‘maneuvered’ by the billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who became an oligarch in Russia in the 1990s and then emigrated to France before returning to Georgia. The government opposed President Zourabichvili when, in 2023, she promoted Georgia’s request for membership of the EU, accepted last December but now suspended due to two laws approved by the Tbilisi parliament during 2024.
The two “liberticidal” laws
The first, nicknamed “Russian law”, forces NGOs that receive funds from abroad to register as “foreign agents”. A law highly contested by pro-Europeans and very similar to the one in force in Russia, thanks to which various associations and foundations were closed down by the Kremlin. The second prohibits same-sex marriage, adoption by homosexual couples, and the representation in the mass media of LGBT relationships and people without authorization.
“The similarities between Ukraine’s recent history and what happened in recent months in Georgia are striking and very worrying. There is now a real risk that the corrupt and pro-Russian ruling “Georgian Dream” party will actually turn out to be a nightmare, with the opposition parties being outlawed. The European Union and the international community must intervene to prevent it,” said Alessandro Litta Modignani, spokesperson for Ponte Atlantico.
“Democracy is weak and under attack all over the world. The outcome of these elections is crucial. There is a possibility that Georgia will take a decisive step towards the rest of Europe. The accession of a country like Georgia it is a change for Europe”, added Lorenzo Strik Lievers, a former radical MP. “The Georgian people are asking for freedom from Putin’s dictatorship which, as we have seen, is trying to infiltrate more elections in Europe in recent weeks”, concluded Federica Valcauda of Europa Radicale.
