Op-ed | Speaker’s Words About Ukraine Friendship Ring Hollow

Ukraine and Georgia do share a common cause and destiny. Both fight for sovereignty, freedom, and a European future, facing the same barbaric enemy. No other issue, idea, or agenda has been a matter of a broader consensus among Georgians as their firm and unquestionable Support for Ukraine. And the divergence of the current administration from the Georgian people can hardly be wider.

Giorgi Mshvenieradze is the Chairman of Democracy Defenders, a civic movement.

According to all recent credible polls, the level of support of Ukraine, its people, and its government in Georgian society can only be compared to the top unifying aspiration of Georgians for their country to join the EU. The sentiment has been fully reciprocated by the unshakable solidarity of the Ukrainians with the people of Georgia.

The overwhelming majority of Georgians and Ukrainians share the aspiration of the promise of Europe and the vision of the common future within the European Union – the future of democratic countries free of Russia’s imperial ambitions, living in guaranteed peace and prosperity.

However, the attitude of Georgia’s government toward Russia’s war in Ukraine drastically contrasts with this sense of common European civilizational choice and destiny – shared by most Ukrainians and Georgians.

The attitude of Georgia’s government toward Russia’s war in Ukraine drastically contrasts with the sense of common European civilizational choice and destiny.

Giorgi Mshvenieradze, Democracy Defenders

Georgian authorities exploit the war in Ukraine to push their partisan agenda. By invoking the viciousness of the Russian actions in Ukraine, they cultivate and amplify the fear of war throughout Georgian society. Under the thin smokescreen of this cultivated fear, and in full contrast to the concerted effort of Georgia’s Western allies to isolate Russia, Georgian authorities deepen the ties and effectively collaborate with the enemy bent on destroying our country.

At this historical juncture, we urgently need to discuss the future – to start building that future as a free nation.

Yet, the current Georgian authorities hardly speak about their vision for the future. This is understandable – abandoning Western aspirations and returning to the Russian political orbit does not sell well in Georgia. So, the only debate the authorities are promoting is the one about the past – endlessly and pointlessly fighting with its shadows.

The only debate the authorities are promoting is the one about the past – endlessly and pointlessly fighting with its shadows.

Giorgi Mshvenieradze, Democracy Defenders

But behind that political smokescreen, the words of the authorities and their deeds speak for themselves.

In perfect unison with Putin’s Russia, the Georgian authorities always refer to Ukraine’s first glorious victory over Russia that set Ukraine on its European path – to Euromaidan (also referred to in Ukraine as the Revolution of Dignity) – with deep derision.

In parallel, inside the country, the authorities spare no effort and waste no time in taking one pro-Russian step after another, be it trying to adopt Russian authoritarian laws, restoring direct flights with Russia, or deepening economic dependence on the global pariah state, which still has 1/5 of this country occupied.

They never take peaceful civic protest against these illegitimate policies as what it is – a democratic expression of dissent. Instead, carefully following Putin’s disinformation meta-narrative of Western conspiracy theory, the authorities demonize the citizens who protest peacefully, saying they are a part of some evil, global, Western “party of war.” They consistently peddle the conspiracy theory, which paints Ukraine as a spearhead of the Western plot to bring war and destruction to Georgia.

The authorities consistently peddle the conspiracy theory, which paints Ukraine as a spearhead of the Western plot to bring war and destruction to Georgia.

Giorgi Mshvenieradze, Democracy Defenders

Take the latest example. The U.S. government has exposed a former high official as a Russian security services collaborator. The Georgian authorities did not consider this an extremely valuable contribution to national security. What they did was to mobilize in support of the unmasked FSB collaborator: the National Bank regulations were altered so that he could retrieve his financial assets. He was allowed to transfer his property to his relatives. The country’s top financial regulator is in peril as three out of four vice presidents of the National Bank resigned in protest.

This drama unfolded on the very same day when Speaker Papuashvili published his op-ed, sharing his concerns on “Georgian-Ukrainian friendship” threatened by “political conjuncture” and complaining that the warring Ukrainian government was not living up to high standards of strategic partnership. But those lamentations ring hollow. To quote a great American President, Shalva Papuashvili’s tears are those of “the man who murdered his parents and then pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.”

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