No chief on the squares

Important historical processes are taking place in Georgia: the authorities have finally found the courage to dismantle monuments of Iosif Stalin from the main squares of Gori and Tkibuli, and rename the streets named in his honour.

It was obvious that monuments to the "Chief of the peoples" had become a serious obstacle for Saakashvili and his team. It is hardly possible to strive for European and NATO integration, claim to be the "light of democracy in the Caucasus", and at the same time immortalise the memory of a man who symbolises tyranny and human rights violations in the West.

Thus, starting in 2004, representatives of all levels of the government started whispering about the need for removing monuments of Iosif Stalin to less public places. It was whispering at first, since the well-known Soviet mentality could be said to have been an obstacle, in particular among an elderly generation of people, for whom Stalin is Georgia's pride.

Stalin was an idol for the citizens of Gori , they really adored 'Uncle Iosif'. But the 'five-day war' of 2008 changed many things, after a missile explosion took the lives of dozens of citizens who had gathered in the square. The authorities had a reasoned argument in debates with the 'Stalinists'.

"Gori and other cities have been bombarded by the empire, created by Iosif Stalin," Mikhail Saakashvili said later. Following these tragic events, public opinion has been meticulously prepared for the idea that the monuments to Stalin should be removed to museums, where they will turn into symbols of the vanished Soviet era.

Finally, a month after the municipal elections, a massive operation involving hundreds of workers and police officers has been carried out in Gori. All the nearby streets were blocked, in order to prevent clashes between the police and fanatical followers of Stalin. But these measures were excessive. 'Fanatic followers' silently watched the process of dismantling the six-meter high monument to their hero.  The lack of resistance inspired the Georgian authorities to further 'destalinization'.

Minister for Culture Nika Ruru recently announced that all the streets and squares honouring Stalin would be renamed. The minister didn't even try to hide that it was a decision made by central government, although formally these issues are in the competence of local representative councils, the 'Sakrebulo'. Meanwhile, the exposition in the museum will be changed and from now on will tell the history of repressions, turning into a part of the Museum of Occupation, opened in 2006 in Tbilisi.

A similar act of 'destalinization' was carried out in the small town of Tkibuli, where a monument to Stalin was dismantled during the night. It is expected that memorials to the victims of Russian bombings of 2008 will be unveiled in the squares, so recently dominated by monuments to the "Chief of Nations".

Georgii Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK.