Among the "Eastern Partnership" and the whole post-Soviet community, the most actively ongoing protest in Kiev, nicknamed "Evromaydan", was supported by Georgia almost daily in Tbilisi, with rallies taking place in support of the protesters against the suspension of the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU (the next rally is going to start in two hours). Recall that this weekend a delegation of the opposition party "United National Movement" led by Mikheil Saakashvili arrived in Kiev; Saakashvili spoke from the rostrum of the Maidan. Today, expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian protest, Tbilisi City Hall will project on its walls the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The official leadership has refrained from direct statements, emphasizing that that would be meddling in Ukrainian affairs.
Georgian experts Nika Chitadze and Petre Mamradze explained the active support for "Evromaydan" in the country to VK. For instance, the president of the Center for Security Studies and International Cooperation of Georgia, Professor Nika Chitadze, stressed that it is not so much about expressing the sentiments of Georgian civil society as about the activities of the pro-Western opposition. "We know about the foreign policy orientation of the UNM, supporting to the maximum Georgia's integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. So, of course, all the Georgian opposition and a large part of the public support Ukraine's aspirations to integrate into Europe. The fact is that if Ukraine signs an agreement, this will set up the first precedent for the post-Soviet space, not including the Baltic countries, when one of the former Soviet republics might be integrated into the EU”, he said.
"Of course, this would create a good basis for other states, primarily those that represent the Eastern Partnership program, to carry out the maximum integration into Europe from the economic, political and ideological points of view. So I think this is the main reason why the Georgian opposition supports the protesters on Maydan. The foreign policy platform and orientation of the UNM is the first reason, and a dream that in this case the conditions will be favorable for Georgia is a second one. When we see the example of Ukraine, of course, it will positively affect the national interests of Georgia.
Head of the Institute for Strategic Management Petre Mamradze also drew attention to the fact that the organization of rallies in Georgia is implemented exclusively by the "United National Movement”. "Now this party wants to prove to the world that it is pro-Western and has not carried out all these years an anti-Western agenda, day and night, that its representatives are the only Democrats, and for this everything is being done. And I am pleased that our government takes a balanced position, calling for peace, tranquility, stability and dialogue, but no more than that”, he said.
According to him, in fact, the position of the official leadership is quite pro-Western. "This is the correct orientation to the position of the European countries. Our president expressed hope that Ukraine will soon move in the same way in which the Georgian people are moving: there are no protests against the Ukrainian leadership here", Petre Mamradze said.
