"Georgia is 5,000 years old, and Russia is an occupier" - reaction in Tbilisi to Medvedev's post
Reaction in Georgia to Medvedev’s post
“Georgia is five thousand years old and no one can efface that. But the situation in the region is so complicated that it finds itself on the razor’s edge,” the ruling party Georgian Dream addressed the public on Dmitriy Medvedev’s social media post declaring that Georgia should again become part of Russia.
But official Tbilisi is not going to make claims to Moscow.
On August 2, a post by Dmitry Medvedev, now Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Security Council, appeared on the Russian social network VKontakte, where he wrote that Georgia should become part of Russia and that Russian genocide had occurred in Kazakhstan.
The post disappeared after a few minutes. However, screenshots of the post were later distributed by journalist Ksenia Sobchak. Medvedev’s aide said the post published on the social network did not belong to him and that his page had been “hacked”.
In the post, it was written that the countries of the post-Soviet realm “will again live together.” It was also emphasized that Russia had already begun to move along this path, and for this “we will spare no effort or means.”
“For example, Georgia did not exist at all before joining. By 1801, the territory of today’s Georgia consisted of five sovereign political entities: Kartli and Kakheti with its capital in Tbilisi, Imereti with its capital in Kutaisi, two principalities of Samegrelo and Guria on the Black Sea coast, and the principality of Svaneti in the mountainous regions. That is, Georgia was created within its current borders only as part of the Russian Empire. Georgia was drawn to Russia because it understood that it was its only ally in a rather hostile environment of Muslim states. And now the same story is repeating itself. North and South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the rest of the territory of Georgia can only be united as part of a common state with Russia“.
It should be noted that North Ossetia was also mentioned in the post, which is currently a federal administrative unit of Russia.
The post questioned the statehood of Kazakhstan and explicitly stated that “Kazakhstan is an artificial state”, which is “the former territory of Russia”.
Reaction in Georgia
Archil Talakvadze, one of the leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party, declared: “Georgia is five thousand years old and no one can efface that. But the situation in the region is so complicated that it finds itself on the razor’s edge, in a time full of dangers and challenges, when peace in Georgia is threatened by very real threats from all sides, including from Russia, which continues its illegal occupation of Georgia.”
Giga Bokeria, chairman of the European Georgia opposition party: “I don’t know if he was hacked or was drunk, maybe someone really hacked and wrote all that, but the point here is that everything written here is a condensed form of what Putin, Medvedev and their propaganda have been serving up regularly.”
Juansher Burchuladze, Georgian Defense Minister: “Medvedev is gone – he is already the past.”
Zurab Abashidze, Special Representative of the Prime Minister for Relations with Russia: “What I saw was a post, which was deleted and denied; they said that the site was hacked.”
When asked by a journalist if he would talk about this topic with Russian representative Grigory Karasin during their next meeting, Zurab Abashidze replied: “No, I’m not going to.”
Michael Galler, MEP: “Westerners should not be under the illusion of returning to their usual relationship with this Russian regime when they listen to Medvedev’s speeches that Kazakhstan and Georgia are artificial states. The only artificial construct was the colonial Soviet Russian Empire. Never again!”
David Arakhamia, chairman of the Servant of the People faction in the Ukrainian Rada: “Georgia’s attempt to get closer to the aggressor will lead to even greater territorial losses, but the pro-Russian authorities in Tbilisi still do not understand this. The policy of the Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who continues to do business in circumvention of sanctions, and the Georgian government playing along with the aggressor, will only lead to Georgia being next.
And in Moscow this is no longer hidden. Therefore, deoligarchization should become the number one goal of the Georgian people. This is the only way to enter Europe and not end up in the hands of the Russian aggressor.”
Reaction in Georgia to Medvedev’s post
