"Georgia is no longer Georgia, but Belarus" - Nika Gvaramia on the Prime Minister's new statements
Nika Gvaramia on Garibashvili and Russia
The imprisoned founder of the opposition TV channel Mtavari Arkhi, Nika Gvaramia, reacted to the speech of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili at the Qatar Economic Forum. Gvaramia called the Prime Minister’s statements a “catastrophe”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, during his speech at the panel discussion of the Qatar Economic Forum, reiterated that 20 percent of the territory of Ukraine is already occupied by Russia and “no one knows when” this war will end. According to him, everyone is surprised that Ukraine “lasted so long.”
The Prime Minister also touched upon the resumption of flights with Russia and said that this is a “normal” story. Garibashvili also appreciated the “smart approach” of China, which is trying to mediate between Ukraine and Russia.
According to Gvaramia, “the Lavrov family can no longer come to Georgia to pass the time. Lavrov himself [Russian Foreign Minister] can no longer come anywhere. Instead, messages on behalf of Russia are voiced by Garibashvili. Not the traditional satellites of Russia – Central Asia or Armenia – but the Prime Minister of Georgia.
Neither the “Russian law” [the law on foreign agents, which was not adopted in Georgia due to large-scale public protests], nor the restoration of direct flights [between Georgia and Russia], nor political prisoners, nor anything else, are even close to commensurate with openly anti-state actions that Garibashvili commits at international forums. He does what Lukashenka [President of Belarus] would do if he were invited to speak somewhere. Today Georgia is a westernized Belarus, still westernized. Today, Georgia is no longer even Georgia, it is Belo-Grorgia.
That’s why I think we have to be persistent and say clearly that the Georgian people deserve [EU candidate] status. The people deserve Europe. First of all, our people will win in their own country.”
According to Gvaramia, the authorities are behaving dishonestly with their own people and are bargaining with Europe. “You should not turn status into a sporting interest, this is not a game of chance, this is a matter of fairness and rationality,” Gvaramia said.
“If we want to be Europeans, we must be able to approach this issue with European decency, moral clarity and consistency. Our own assessments and statements should be based on the same principles.
Whether inside the country or outside it, everything morally ambiguous, devoid of justice, going beyond rationality, only strengthens the existing status quo and prolongs its life. And as long as we have this government, we are moving away from the West and entering into free fall mode.
The only way to know if the Georgian people deserve candidate status is if they prove they don’t deserve this government,” Gvaramia wrote on Facebook.
