Pro-Russian radicals in Georgia burn EU flag

Alt-Info vandalizes EU flag

Pro-Russian and anti-gay radicals in Georgia burned the EU flag and tearing it from the flagpole in front of the parliament building. The police didn’t react it at all. The group behind the incident was the conservative Alt-Info, which also participated in the attack on journalists on July 5, 2021.

Later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened an administrative case into the incident. A statement released by the department says the police will identify perpetrators and fine them. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also called on citizenry not to go beyond freedom of assembly and expression.

The action was condemned by Dmitry Khundadze, one of the authors of the law on foreign agents. According to him, this is not in the interests of the country or society.

“The position of a certain segment of the society such as ‘I will insult others, tear down the flag…’ are unacceptable and damage the image of the state,” Khundadze writes.

Video: Tabula

It is also reported that the vandals threw rocks at the building, where the Ukrainian flag flies.

Zaza Bibilashvili, head of the Chavchavadze Center, says a rock was thrown into their office and hit someone in the head.

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On March 7, the bill “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” was adopted by the parliament in the first reading by 76 votes against 13.

Then, according to the procedure, both bills were sent to the Venice Commission.

The process was accompanied by rallies on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. After the adoption of the bill in the first reading, the protest swelled to many thousands. Authorities twice dispersed tens of thousands of people with tear gas and water cannons.

All organizations and politicians, both in Georgia and abroad, call this bill a Russian model and say that its adoption will be a huge obstacle for the country on its way to the European Union.

Then on March 9, the ruling party said it was withdrawing the bill. On March 10, during the second reading in Parliament, the majority voted to reject it. This time 35 deputies voted against, one supported.

One of the authors of the bill, Dmitry Khundadze, said that by not adopting this law, Georgian society “missed an opportunity.”

The parliamentary majority rejected the widely-abhorred “Russian law” on foreign agents in its second reading.

Dmitry Khundadze, one of the authors of the bill, says that by not passing this law, society “missed an opportunity.” On the morning of March 9, the ruling Georgian Dream party announced the withdrawal of the Russian draft law on the transparency of foreign influence.