Georgia, Russia | Optimistic for his home country Georgia: – They don’t have the resources to shoot

– It is a very serious situation. We are afraid of what lies ahead.

So says Davit Batsiashvili, head of the Georgian association in Norway, and spokesperson for the slightly under 500 people with a Georgian background who live in this country. On Thursday afternoon, he was a guest on Nettavisen’s Ukrainapodden, just hours after the EU issued a strong warning to his home country: The new law on “foreign agents” is unacceptable and a serious obstacle on the country’s path towards EU membership.

Listen to the entire Ukrainapodden episode here, or wherever you listen to podcasts:

It is challenging to summarize everything that is happening in Georgia now with a sentence or two, but simply explained, the government and the political elite want to forge closer ties with Russia, while the people look towards the West. As much as 80 percent of Georgia’s population wants to join the EU.

– It is very nice to see my friends from primary school and university protesting on the TV and in social media, but it is also very difficult at the same time to see that our own government stands against them. That the government is ready to put down demonstrations, and that the police use tear gas and other means to put down the people, says Batsiashvili, who has lived in Norway in recent years.

He remembers very well last March 2, when the controversial law hit like a bomb for the first time.

– Suddenly they were going to introduce a law similar to the one Russia introduced in 2012. It really came as a shock. Nobody expected that, says Batsiashvili in the podcast.

– Suddenly everything was at stake

The law requires that all organizations and businesses that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad must register as foreign agents. Batsiashvili and other critics of the law believe it represents an authoritarian shift in the country, and compare it to the law in Russia, where it is used to gag Western-backed media and organizations.

– A friend of mine and other protesters gathered outside parliament when this law began to be discussed last year. There weren’t that many of them then, maybe 50-100. There were grown people who cried, because they had worked for human rights in Georgia for so many years. They had worked to escape the Russian sphere of influence, and suddenly everything was at stake, says Batsiashvili.

Read also: “The Russian law” in Georgia: -⁠ These are the biggest protests so far

But after large demonstrations last year, the ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew the bill. Now the law is suddenly on the agenda again.

– Why have they chosen to come up with the bill again now? I don’t have a good answer to that, says Batsiashvili in Ukrainapodden.

In recent weeks, the law has received two green lights from the authorities, and is only missing the last one. A third treatment is expected in around two weeks.

Demonstrating in front of own embassy

There have been many demonstrations in Oslo in the past year. Pro-Ukrainians demonstrate in front of the Russian embassy. Pro-Palestinians demonstrate in front of the Israeli embassy. Davit and other Georgians are protesting in front of their own Georgian embassy.

– Yes, we are dissatisfied with the policy of the Georgian government. They are trying to turn the country’s course, Batsiashvili sums up.

Georgian opposition leader beaten up during demonstration.

It is only a little over a year since the embassy, ​​which he is now demonstrating outside, was a great meeting place.

– Then we were at the celebrations organized by the embassy, ​​and we were always invited. It was an arena where we could gather and meet each other. It has turned radically. Now we go out and demonstrate against the employees who work there, who we also know very well, says Batsiashvili.

Optimistic: – They don’t have the resources to shoot

He does not believe that the government will withdraw the “agent law” this time, as they did last year.

– They have decided to adopt it now, no matter what the price will be, says Batsiashvili in Ukrainapodden.

He nevertheless believes that the demonstrations in the country must continue towards the important election on 26 October this autumn. Although the ruling Georgian Dream party received 48 percent of the vote in the 2020 elections, Georgia is a country with a proud history in terms of politics, Batsiashvili believes, in contrast to, for example, Belarus.

– Georgia has not always been a fully democratic country, but we have always managed to turn the situation around when things have gone completely wrong. People endure a lot, but when it overflows, we go out into the streets and create a change, either through elections or through, for example, the revolution in 2003, says Batsiashvili.

Read also: Enormous demonstrations: –⁠ Most acute situation since the Soviet era

One aspect that makes him optimistic is that the Georgian authorities do not have enough resources to fight the people in an authoritarian manner.

– Especially in defence. After all, we had a war against Russia in 2008, which is not so long ago. The idea that those who fought in the war and lost their loved ones, that they should suddenly support a pro-Russian government, it is very hard to believe.

– If the security forces receive an order to shoot at the demonstrators, do you think they will follow that order?

– I don’t think it’s possible that that order will come, simply because they don’t have enough resources to take such a hard line as, for example, Lukashenko (Belarus’s president, editor’s note) did in 2020, says Batsiashvili, before he adds:

– And if that happens, I think that very many (of the security forces, editor’s note) will very quickly defect.

Listen to the entire episode here, or where you listen to podcasts:

Snorting at CIA claims: – If Norwegians think so…

Some alternative media, as well as a few users on social media, whether they are real people or Russian troll factories, claim that the US CIA is directing the demonstrations in Georgia today, and that the protests are allegedly just a part of the US proxy war against Russia.

When asked what he thinks of these claims, while his compatriots fill the streets in their tens of thousands, Batsiashvili is more easily stated:

– If there are any Norwegians who have such thoughts and ideas, then I can recommend them to try living in Russia for a few months, and see how the “good” system works. We are very much done with Russia. I have many Russian friends, but Russia is taking our freedom. They take everything we own. I want to express what I want, go on the 1 May train, protest or be concerned about the environment. These opportunities are not available in the countries where Russia has influence, says Batsiashvili, and adds:

– I have dual citizenship, and the day when the Storting supported the Nansen program for Ukraine, where all the parties signed, is one of the greatest days of my life. I am incredibly proud of the Norwegian democracy we have in Norway, and these voices that you mention, I don’t think do any harm at all.