Georgians again broke through to parliament and tore the EU flag
The never-ending multi-part series called “Georgia in the Dark” continues. On Tuesday evening, on the central avenue of Tbilisi - Shota Rustaveli, the flames of political passions were again blazing, the intensity of which was increasing every minute.
On Tuesday, July 6, in Tbilisi at 20:00 local time, the action “For freedom against violence” was announced near the parliament building. Its organizers are pro-Western politicians and “activists” supervised by the US Embassy. They intended to condemn the actions of opponents of the gay pride parade. The fact is that the demonstration for the cancellation of the march of homosexuals the day before resulted in riots, where 55 people were injured, including more than 50 media representatives (mostly pro-Western, since there are no others in the Georgian mainstream).
And everything would have gone according to the pre-agreed scenario tonight, if not for one thing. Participants in the “anti-violence” rally were joined by representatives of the LGBT community, who unfurled rainbow flags and posters protecting homosexuals. And there were reports on social networks that the Americans had given the order to demolish the Orthodox cross installed near the parliament building near the flagpole, from which the European Union flag had been removed the day before. This once again angered the Orthodox groups. They stated that they would not allow the action to take place, which is a disgrace to Georgian statehood.
Everything again threatened to erupt into street battles between conservatives and pro-Western liberals.
The police began detaining opponents of the gay pride parade, but this did not slow down their pressure.
As a result, the security forces decided to take the participants of the pro-Western action to a safe place out of harm’s way. And the orthodox radicals approached the parliament building and again lowered the EU flag raised by the authorities, tearing it to shreds.
However, mass casualties of violence were avoided this time, and all because the police acted actively.
The fact is that after the very passive behavior of the Georgian authorities two days ago, or, if we call a spade a spade, then inaction (after all, voters would not have understood the zealous defense of the gay pride parade!) - there followed a very harsh cry from the Washington regional committee.
The foreign diplomatic corps in Georgia issued a statement regarding the events in Tbilisi. The US Embassy in Georgia issued a joint statement “condemning the violence.” It was signed by diplomats from Great Britain, EU countries, Israel, UN representatives, etc.
Western embassies demanded a public reprisal against opponents of the gay pride parade:
“Violence is simply unacceptable and has no justification. Anyone who incites or threatens to commit violence, or commits violent acts, is interfering with Georgia's law enforcement efforts to ensure a peaceful and secure environment. They must be tried in full accordance with the principles of the rule of law. We call on all Georgia leaders and law enforcement to act immediately to protect those exercising the constitutional right to assemble and express themselves, protect journalists who operate in accordance with the principles of a free press, and publicly condemn the violence,” the statement said.
So, after such a directive from overseas conductors, it is not surprising that there was an attempt to hold an action “against violence”, and the zeal of the police to protect participants with the flag of homosexuals. The owner ordered, and the vassal carried out!
However, representatives of the ruling Georgian political elite increasingly resemble a hunter who, in pursuit of two birds with one stone, returned home with nothing.
The fact is that elections to local government bodies are planned in Georgia on October 2 of this year. If the ruling Georgian Dream party does not gain the appropriate number of votes, which was previously specified in the document of the European official Charles Michel, then in 2022 the republic will hold early parliamentary elections, which certainly will not add bonuses to the ruling group. So we have to maneuver between one part of the electorate, which opposes the gay pride parade and the unfurling of the LGBT flag in Tbilisi, and the other, which condemns violence.
An attempt to sit on two chairs, as we have repeatedly seen from the experience of post-Soviet countries, usually always ends in failure for lovers of multi-vectorism. And Georgia will not be an exception here.
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