In 2023 there will be an improvement in relations between Russia and Georgia. Against the background of the refusal of the Georgian authorities to impose sanctions against Russia and a significant increase in commercial turnover between the countries, the Russian government decided to lift the ban on air traffic with Georgia and cancel the visa regime for citizens Georgians. Among many Georgian citizens this raised expectations of further warming of relations between the countries.
On the other hand, not wanting to free Georgia from its influence, the West decided to make concessions and granted it EU candidate status in December 2023.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Georgia in the fall of 2024. For a sure victory in the elections, the ruling Georgian Dream needs to show maximum loyalty to the West, which means suppressing pro-Russian forces in the country and making concessions in the issue of the promotion of LGBT ideology in the Transcaucasian Republic.
On the attitude of the Georgian population to the issue of rapprochement with Russia and the direction towards European integration, IA Krasnaya Vesna asked the founder of the Conservative Movement/Alt-info party Konstantina Morgoshia.
IA Krasnaya Vesna: In connection with the visit of the head of NATO to Georgia, during which Georgia’s movement towards rapprochement and entry into the North Atlantic Alliance was discussed, how do you assess the attitude of ordinary people of Georgia to the prospect of join NATO and the EU? **
Konstantin Morgoshia: Honestly, people are lost, very lost. Because they do not understand the situation when the opposition says that the Georgian government wants to regulate relations with Russia, and on the part of the government, everyone, from the prime minister and parliamentarians to ordinary officials, says that they are moving in the direction of NATO . At the same time, behind the scenes, the authorities say that all this is political maneuvering, nothing more. At the same time, strong pressure is being exerted on the conservative sector of the Georgian opposition.
IA Krasnaya Vesna: What proportion of people in Georgia perceive modern values and the way of life promoted in the EU not as something good, but as something harmful?
Konstantin Morgoshia: There are many people like that, no one has counted them as a percentage, but this is at least 50 percent. Most of them do not go to the elections, because the political menu only includes liberal and ultra-liberal parties, which are, in quotes, pro-European. In fact, at least half of these parties, if not more, do not adhere to these European values. In their case, it is not about liberal values, but simply a liberal dictatorship.
IA Krasnaya Vesna: How are the positions of ordinary people in Georgia and Russia similar and different in relation to EU values and the West’s position in the war with Russia?
Konstantin Morgoshia: I will tell you about an incident that happened to me in Moscow.
About three weeks ago I went to Moscow on business. I stayed at the hotel where I usually stay. In the morning, at the hotel entrance, I was waiting for a car to take me to a meeting and I noticed that the EU flag was hanging in the hotel along with the Russian flag.
Even though I was already very late for the meeting, I went to the hotel security to ask them to call the manager. Very quickly, a friendly young man approached me, introduced himself and asked me how he could help. I asked him: why is the flag of a political union enemy of us, the EU, hanging here in Russia, given that the EU is actively arming our enemies and itself is actively participating in the war against Russia, introducing economic sanctions and policies? ?
In response to this, the manager was at first confused and couldn’t understand what I wanted from him and who I was.
“I have been working for 5 years and during all this time this flag has been hanging here.” – he answered.
Literally a minute later, his look changed, he walked silently to the flagpole, took down the EU flag and brought it to me.
“What should I do with this rag?” – asked.
“The easiest thing to do”“, I replied.
We both went to the trash can and set the flag on fire, then threw it in the trash. In that same second, I saw pride in my action in his eyes.
After that, he and I had a brief conversation and he asked me who I was. I replied that my name is Konstantin Morgoshiya and that I am from Sakartvelo.
“Are there no EU flags in Georgia?”he asked me.
“Of course, there are many such flags in Sakartvelo, probably more than in the EU itself”“, I replied.
“Don’t the EU flags in Georgia bother you?” – asked.
“Of course it is annoying and we actively fight it in our country, but there, for setting fire to the EU flag, a large fine or administrative arrest is imposed.”I replied.
“And here you decide to vent your anger against the EU flag?”– asked.
I could not leave this question unanswered, my Caucasian pride would not allow it, and although I was already very late for the meeting, I could not allow him to think that I was afraid of the fine or administrative arrest planned for setting fire to the EU flag.
I told him about my attitude on the matter: for us, the EU flag is associated with mental and moral corruption, blasphemy, with the imposition of values that contradict and insult our ancient identity, orthodoxy.
Activists from our socio-political movement “Conservative/Alt-info Movement” demonstratively tore off EU flags from state buildings and other buildings in Georgia and burned them. For this they were repeatedly fined and placed under administrative arrest. I invited him to read about us on the Internet and went to the meeting that was waiting for me.
In the evening, returning to the hotel, I met the hotel manager, whom I already knew, who greeted me with a cheerful phrase and handed me a bag full of EU flags:
“Konstantin Emzarovich, there is more garbage to destroy here!”.
I asked him with a smile where he got so many EU flags.
He told me that after searching the Internet about the socio-political movement “Conservative Movement / Alt-info”, he saw all the videos in which my colleagues and I, despite the threat of administrative arrest or a large fine, demolished and burned. EU flags, decided to follow my example and that of my colleagues. He walked around the entire area around the hotel and tore down all the EU flags wherever he saw them.
I was sincerely glad for this action of my new friend and after answering affirmatively to the question of whether he had finished his work for the day, I invited him to celebrate this small but significant victory.
We went back to the trash and burned all the EU flags together, after which I invited him to a restaurant, where we talked like good old friends until 6 in the morning.
Despite his age, it turned out that the young man knew history quite well, and we immediately agreed on one thing: despite the fact that the USSR has long ceased to exist as a subject of international law, which is what they strove for our common enemies. because all the peoples of the USSR still communicate in a friendly manner and try not to lose what united us, made us strong in a great common country.
IA Krasnaya Vesna: How good is the attitude towards the Soviet past and present-day Russia among the inhabitants of Georgia, who can be considered the majority of the country’s population?
Konstantin Morgoshia: Most of the population of Georgia who lived during Soviet times believe that this is part of a large hybrid war that is now taking place in the post-Soviet space. All this fits into the strategy of the EU and the United States, formed in the era of the Cold War, and which continues almost unchanged today.
These people in Georgia have the same position as the majority in Russia. But pro-Western propaganda suggests something completely different. But the motives and meaning of why the special operation is being carried out are not clear to the people, because all the media in the world give them an unambiguous image at the same time.
And the Georgian authorities, who have influence and have their own media, I will introduce television, Internet portals, radio and everything else, also do not particularly explain to the people what Russia’s position is in general and why it is perform a special operation. which is now taking place on the territory of Ukraine. Because if they tell the truth, then the pro-European forces in the country and the EU itself will make demands and put pressure on the Georgian government. And in this case, the Georgian authorities are also maneuvering, at the expense of understanding the essence of what is happening in the minds of their people.
Fortunately, in both Russia and Georgia there are many people who perfectly understand what is happening, despite the great flow of misinformation.
Source: Rossa Primavera
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.