Georgia braces for Putin presidency

David Berdzenishvili: “In time, Russia’s civil society will manage a democratic transformation”

Interview by Georgy Kalatozishvili, exclusively to VK

Georgian experts and politicians closely monitor political developments in Russia, as the relations with their northern neighbor form an important part of Georgia’s political life. No one doubts that Vladimir Putin will win the election. Nevertheless, Georgian media, the official power and opposition – all openly support the liberal opposition: according to Georgians, Mikhail Prokhorov, Vladimir Ryzhkov and Boris Nemtsov are representatives of this opposition wing. This whole situation recalls the situation around the game between Georgia's Favorite FC and FC Barcelona: everyone understands that the Georgian team is weaker and will certainly lose, but they still support it. Communist candidate Zyuganov and LDPR leader Zhirinovsky have almost no support in Georgia, and it seems that no one understands that the only candidate able to compete with Putin is Zyuganov with his pre-election program, while Prokhorov doesn’t stand a chance.

The Georgian opposition views the outcome of the Russian elections the same way as the authorities do. One of the most uncompromising opposition figures, leader of the Republican party David Berdzenishvili, shared his opinion on the subject with our VK correspondent.

- Do you attribute a great deal of attention to the upcoming Russian elections? Do you monitor developments in the Russian political arena?

- Of course I do. And I’m glad that all three opposition rallies in Moscow were conducted by Vladimir Ryzhkov. I know him well. Democratic forces in Georgia are interested in Russia’s return to the liberal-democratic path of development. It is obvious that Putin’s fair victory in the first round is impossible. But I’ll stress: if there was a fair election. But anyway, Russian society’s political awareness is awakening. And this is very good, as it gives us a chance to establish cooperation between democratic forces in Georgia and Russia.

- What consequences will Putin’s victory will have for Georgia?

- The state of our bilateral relations will remain the same. No matter how many mistakes Saakashvili has made (and he has made a lot of them – first of all, he swallowed Putin’s bait in 2008), the territories that Russia occupied she took not from him personally, but from all Georgian citizens. 20% of Georgian territory is now occupied. This is the estimate of the US and EU. So we have to neighbor on a very dangerous state. But a lot depends on Georgian civil society: if we solve the problem of democratic development promotion, Russia will have to take this into account. Russia will have to put up with our aspiration for NATO and EU membership. I don’t think Putin would ever accept that – for him the collapse of the USSR was a major geopolitical catastrophe, but for the whole world, including Georgia, it was the most logical end to the Soviet totalitarian regime.

- Why is the transformation process going so slow and hard in Russia?

- Russia is the rightful heir of the USSR, i.e. of the collapsed totalitarian empire. It isn’t free of its past. But this doesn’t mean that the democratic forces that recently raised their head again can’t win. I hope that soon truly liberal forces would return to the Russian political field – first, at a regional level, then on the federal scale. Today there’s no actual choice in Russia: Putin on one hand and Zyuganov and Zhirinovsky on the other. But it doesn’t mean that in time Russia’s civil society can’t manage the democratic transformation. Personally, I support Russians with all my heart, and the less my democratic friends in Russia are oppressed, the more Georgia is safe. As for today’s Russia – it poses a threat to Georgia.