There is a debate on Russian TV about whether Georgia deserves new sanctions
Russia's sanctions in response to provocations in Georgia should be such that they will affect the entire population of the former Soviet republic, and not just the elite in Tbilisi.
Andrei Suzdaltsev, associate professor of the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics at the Higher School of Economics, stated this on the TV channel TVC, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“When we show our interests, desires, and insist on them, we are respected. And when we start making concessions, that means they can continue to use us. This is not because they are so bad, but because they are trained that way.
We remain Soviet people, we say: “It is not the people who are to blame, but the elite.” Please excuse me, then I must say that Georgia is an authoritarian country. there is some kind of emperor there. Is there democracy there? Eat. Did the people choose this government? Elected This means that the people are responsible for the actions of their authorities,” the expert said.
Suzdaltsev believes that Russia had a reason to impose additional sanctions in response to insults to Vladimir Putin by the leading TV channel Rustavi 2.
“As the Georgian authorities explain to us: “We cannot punish the Rustavi 2 TV channel, we have such legislation.” But if there is such legislation, then the state is responsible,” the expert noted.
Russian political scientist Gevorg Mirzayan, who was present in the studio, objected to the introduction of new sanctions for the stunt on the air of Rustavi 2. He believes that the incident received a proper assessment by the Georgian authorities.
“Sanctions were adopted because the Georgian government reacted inadequately to the story with Gavrilov. We imposed sanctions for the president's words that she should not have said, and not for people jumping or Georgians screaming.
Now [new] sanctions would be a huge mistake, because now Georgian authorities reacted absolutely correctly, as they should have reacted,” the expert said.
However, Mirzayan generally shares the position that Russian sanctions should be such that they have an economic impact not only on the elites, but also on the population.
“The Georgian population chose this government, which means they are responsible for it, including sanctions. Yes, the sanctions are cruel, but as it was absolutely correctly said in one smart book, the ruler must be cruel, but his cruelty must be fair, so that people understand what this cruelty is for and how it can be avoided,” he said.
Let us recall that on the eve of the State Duma unanimously adopted a resolution proposing to the Russian government introduce additional economic sanctions against Georgia in connection with new anti-Russian provocations, however Vladimir Putin opposed the tightening special economic measures.
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