Giorgi Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Giorgi Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik KavkazaThe current anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War was a special one in Georgia. The authorities finally decided whether to celebrate the anniversary on May 8 or 9. During the rule of Mikheil Saakashvili, the emphasis was on May 8, when Europe celebrates the Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation. However, it is not clear whose reconciliation it is and with whom, if, according to "the Soviet narrative", the Soviet people did not fight the German people, they fought fascism. Moreover, "the German people became the first victims of fascism," according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.This approach is acceptable for Georgian veterans, who are accustomed to go to the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Vake Park on May 9th. "We fought fascism and destroyed it. With whom must I reconcile on May 8?" a veteran Marina, who came to the park with her grandchildren, wondered.However, the former president put another meaning into the discourse of the date of the celebration – to celebrate together with Europe, not Russia. The former Minister of Culture of his administration, Nika Rurua, published an article in which there was a cartoon "Zhukov and Stalin's attempt to "re-sign" the capitulation of Germany, which has been formed in France's Reims on May 7". He answered that the "cartoon" was an attempt to put an end to the Great War in France, not in Berlin, where Soviet (not American or British) troops finally defeated the Nazis, thus earning the right to put the last point there, where they do consider it necessary and just. And when Field Marshal Keitel signed the act of unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Germany, it was already past midnight in Moscow – May 9th.Nevertheless, the former authorities were trying to "instill" a tradition associated with May 8, but did not succeed in this for one simple reason - what is the Day of Victory without veterans ?! And the veterans go to the Eternal Flame on May 9. If the authorities laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier a day before the veterans come back with medals on their chests, the authorities would look vulgar.Saakashvili reflected on this issue, sending individuals from the second and third tier of his power to Vake Park on May 9, but did not appear in public himself. The 'Georgian Dream' party put an end to this absurd dispute: President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili went to the Eternal Flame on May 9 together with the veterans! They, by the way, were allocated an unprecedented one-off assistance to the amount of about $400 this year. Nevertheless, "the war of meanings" proceeded till Victory Day: the activists close to Mikheil Saakashvili's 'Free Zone' youth organization tore the ribbons from people who came to Vake Park, declaring them "symbols of the occupation of Georgia." But the police immediately detained the most zealous members and returned the ribbons to their owners.At this time, at the entrance to the park dozens of Georgian bikers were standing. They reported that they intended to resist the Russian bikers club 'Night Wolves' if they tried to go to the park with St. George ribbons. The Russians really came to Georgia on the eve of the May 9th. At night, unknown people doused their motorcycles with yellow and blue paint - the colors of the Ukrainian flag. However, on May 9 the Russian bikers were heading to Gori, where a large demonstration of war veterans and young Stalinists was held under unprecedented slogans in the modern history of Georgia "Down with NATO" and "Tired of empty promises of the EU." The demonstrators marched through the central square with red banners and erected up a bust of Stalin near his museum.A surprising number of young people took part in the demonstration. This category of the population increasingly affects public opinion: according to a recent survey of the US NDI, the number of supporters of Georgia's accession to the Eurasian Union has grown from 15% to 31% in just one year after the previous poll, becoming clear evidence of the emergence of new, already quite competitive meanings in consciousness of Georgian society.
Giorgi Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The current anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War was a special one in Georgia. The authorities finally decided whether to celebrate the anniversary on May 8 or 9. During the rule of Mikheil Saakashvili, the emphasis was on May 8, when Europe celebrates the Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation. However, it is not clear whose reconciliation it is and with whom, if, according to "the Soviet narrative", the Soviet people did not fight the German people, they fought fascism. Moreover, "the German people became the first victims of fascism," according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This approach is acceptable for Georgian veterans, who are accustomed to go to the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Vake Park on May 9th. "We fought fascism and destroyed it. With whom must I reconcile on May 8?" a veteran Marina, who came to the park with her grandchildren, wondered.
However, the former president put another meaning into the discourse of the date of the celebration – to celebrate together with Europe, not Russia. The former Minister of Culture of his administration, Nika Rurua, published an article in which there was a cartoon "Zhukov and Stalin's attempt to "re-sign" the capitulation of Germany, which has been formed in France's Reims on May 7". He answered that the "cartoon" was an attempt to put an end to the Great War in France, not in Berlin, where Soviet (not American or British) troops finally defeated the Nazis, thus earning the right to put the last point there, where they do consider it necessary and just. And when Field Marshal Keitel signed the act of unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Germany, it was already past midnight in Moscow – May 9th.
Nevertheless, the former authorities were trying to "instill" a tradition associated with May 8, but did not succeed in this for one simple reason - what is the Day of Victory without veterans ?! And the veterans go to the Eternal Flame on May 9. If the authorities laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier a day before the veterans come back with medals on their chests, the authorities would look vulgar.
Saakashvili reflected on this issue, sending individuals from the second and third tier of his power to Vake Park on May 9, but did not appear in public himself. The 'Georgian Dream' party put an end to this absurd dispute: President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili went to the Eternal Flame on May 9 together with the veterans! They, by the way, were allocated an unprecedented one-off assistance to the amount of about $400 this year. Nevertheless, "the war of meanings" proceeded till Victory Day: the activists close to Mikheil Saakashvili's 'Free Zone' youth organization tore the ribbons from people who came to Vake Park, declaring them "symbols of the occupation of Georgia." But the police immediately detained the most zealous members and returned the ribbons to their owners.
At this time, at the entrance to the park dozens of Georgian bikers were standing. They reported that they intended to resist the Russian bikers club 'Night Wolves' if they tried to go to the park with St. George ribbons. The Russians really came to Georgia on the eve of the May 9th. At night, unknown people doused their motorcycles with yellow and blue paint - the colors of the Ukrainian flag. However, on May 9 the Russian bikers were heading to Gori, where a large demonstration of war veterans and young Stalinists was held under unprecedented slogans in the modern history of Georgia "Down with NATO" and "Tired of empty promises of the EU." The demonstrators marched through the central square with red banners and erected up a bust of Stalin near his museum.
A surprising number of young people took part in the demonstration. This category of the population increasingly affects public opinion: according to a recent survey of the US NDI, the number of supporters of Georgia's accession to the Eurasian Union has grown from 15% to 31% in just one year after the previous poll, becoming clear evidence of the emergence of new, already quite competitive meanings in consciousness of Georgian society.
