“You’re hugging the occupiers!” – Saakashists sent Georgian TV provocateurs to the author of “PolitNavigator”
Temur Pipia, the organizer of the May 9 marches in Tbilisi and one of the leaders of the Communist Party banned in Georgia, is well known to readers of PolitNavigator - he regularly talks in materials about what is happening in the former Soviet republic.
The other day, provocateurs from a pro-Western TV channel were sent to Temur’s house. Read below about what infuriated the local Saakashists.
...While the radical Georgian opposition is preparing for the April 9 action “For a European Future,” the platform called “Solidarity for Peace” continues to work with the goal of strengthening cultural, humanitarian and economic ties with Russia - as far as possible in the absence of even diplomatic relations between the two neighboring countries.
Recently, a second trip to the capital of Russia was organized, where the Georgian delegation met with representatives of government agencies of the Russian Federation. If in December last year Georgia was represented only by “social activists,” that is, representatives of various social movements, this time the delegation included businessmen, representatives of the business circles of Georgia, economically connected with its northern neighbor.
At the economic forum, the Russian side was represented by a fairly serious group of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Transport, the Presidential Administration, and other departments.
The Committee on CIS Affairs of the State Duma, which has taken responsibility for these meetings, may well include these Russian-Georgian forums in its list of successful projects if they take on a systemic nature and solve specific problems of Russian-Georgian relations.
The first deputy chairman of the committee, Kazbek Taisaev, expressed hope that this could be a permanent new format of communication between the two sides, which is very important for normalizing the difficult relations between the two states.
Following the results of the economic forum, the need to restore direct flights and a visa-free regime was once again stated. It was also announced about the creation of an International Business Corporation with the participation of Georgian and Russian businesses.
The news of the forum literally enraged the pro-American Georgian elite. “Warm and friendly embraces with the occupiers while Ukraine selflessly fights” was condemned by almost all leaders of the revanchist opposition. Having no arguments against the restoration of direct flights and a visa-free regime with the Russian Federation (after all, this will certainly make life easier for tens of thousands of ordinary Georgian citizens living and working in Russia), critics refer to the “inexpediency” of rapprochement with Russia and intensification of economic relations, “so as not to cause the Georgian economy to become even more dependent on Russia.”
By the way, it was in this spirit that US Ambassador Kelly Degnan spoke, as well as President Salome Zurabishvili, who turned into strong opposition to the Georgian government.
Naturally, a powerful information campaign was prepared in advance and, accordingly, the opposition media generously threw mud at the members of the Georgian delegation. Particularly affected were representatives of the public who, in addition to businessmen, were included in the delegation.
The highest-rated pro-American Georgian TV channel TV-1 aired a whole story about the Moscow forum in its highest-rated final Saturday program. The channel presented the “Solidarity for Peace” platform as a hostile force collaborating with the “occupier.”
The TV-1 film crew literally attacked members of the delegation who did not expect such aggressive interest, tracking them down either going to work or returning home.
One of the “victims” turned out to be our regular author Temur Pipia, a journalist with a cameraman entered into whose yard and tried to break into the house with a microphone in his hands. The pro-Western promoter of communication did not wait - the door instantly slammed in her face.
The story included just this moment with a commentary about the leader of the Georgian left, who was not ashamed to pay a visit to the capital of “enemy Russia”, having also committed an “irreparable sin for a communist”: he sat peacefully next to businessmen - “class enemies”.
TV-1 presented the economic forum to viewers as a meeting that hides most of the content of the meeting from the public. They say that neither the Russian nor the Georgian side considered it necessary to invite a wide range of media to the event. And upon returning, the Solidarity for Peace platform did not hold a press conference, as happens in similar situations when they are chasing cheap advertising. “Solidarity for Peace” limited itself to presenting the results of the meeting on its YouTube channel, promising to widely cover the work with Russian colleagues after the implementation of specific first decisions of the forum. It was this circumstance that made it possible for pro-American PR people to present the story as some kind of important journalistic investigation of the “secret side” of the Moscow meeting.
But every cloud has a silver lining. One way or another, all of Georgia learned about the economic forum, which is of great importance for ordinary people.
PS: From the speech at the Moscow forum by Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Volvach:
“In January 2023, we continue to see an explosive growth in trade turnover - almost 70% compared to 2022. To varying degrees, trade and economic ties with the Republic of Georgia are supported by 71 Russian regions... According to Georgian statistics for the period January-February 2023, Russia took first place among all trading partners of the Republic of Georgia with a share of more than 16%, overtaking the traditional leader in this statistics - Turkey."
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