https://sputnikglobe.com/20241029/georgia-unrest-part-of-wests-grand-strategy-to-use-russias-neighbors-as-pawns-in-hybrid-war-1120717188.html
Georgia Unrest Part of West’s Grand Strategy to Use Russia’s Neighbors as Pawns in Hybrid War
Georgia Unrest Part of West’s Grand Strategy to Use Russia’s Neighbors as Pawns in Hybrid War
Sputnik International
Thousands gathered outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Monday night amid opposition claims that Saturday's parliamentary elections were "rigged". The strategy is not new, and designed to pressure the ruling party into becoming more malleable to Western interests, says political analyst and Caucasus politics expert Stanislav Tarasov.
2024-10-29T12:40+0000
2024-10-29T12:40+0000
2024-10-29T12:40+0000
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stanislav tarasov
georgia
tbilisi
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european union (eu)
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The United States and the European Union “want to create a whole package of conflict situations: Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, and to play these games like a grandmaster across multiple boards, yielding somewhere while hitting out somewhere else," Tarasov told Sputnik, commenting on the shaky political situation in Georgia after the weekend's parliamentary vote, which some observers fear may escalate into a new Euromaidan-style coup scenario.State Department spokesman Matthew Miller announced Monday that the US would "join calls for international and local observers for a full investigation of all reports of election-related violations." The US has "consistently urged the Georgian government this year to walk back its anti-democratic actions and return to its Euro-Atlantic path. We do not rule out further consequences if the Georgian government's direction does not change," Miller warned.Georgia can expect further pressure from the West, including sanctions, if the Georgian Dream Party government sticks to its independence on foreign and domestic policy, Tarasov says.Pointing to the unlikelihood of the West being able to oust the ruling Georgian Dream Party, which won nearly 54% of the vote and gathered enough seats to form a new government, Tarasov believes the opposition’s claims of fraud and manipulation may not be aimed at overthrowing the government, but forcing it to accept members of the opposition into a coalition to “erode” it from within.“The Americans understand that they cannot hold Georgia, but they can destabilize the situation in the region through it. That’s what they’re doing – it’s a holding operation,” the observer summed up.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241029/us-treats-georgia-as-its-colony---maduro-1120711566.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241028/west-seeks-to-destabilize-post-election-georgia-using-snipers-trained-in-ukraine--sources-1120710718.html
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what's going on in georgia, what's behind georgia unrest, who's behind georgia protests, why are georgians protesting
what's going on in georgia, what's behind georgia unrest, who's behind georgia protests, why are georgians protesting
Georgia Unrest Part of West’s Grand Strategy to Use Russia’s Neighbors as Pawns in Hybrid War
Thousands gathered outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Monday night amid opposition claims that Saturday's parliamentary elections were "rigged". The strategy is not new, and designed to pressure the ruling party into becoming more malleable to Western interests, says political analyst and Caucasus politics expert Stanislav Tarasov.
The United States and the European Union “want to create a whole package of conflict situations: Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, and to play these games like a grandmaster across multiple boards, yielding somewhere while hitting out somewhere else," Tarasov told Sputnik, commenting on the
shaky political situation in Georgia after the weekend's parliamentary vote, which some observers
fear may escalate into a new Euromaidan-style coup scenario.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller
announced Monday that the US would "join calls for international and local observers for a full investigation of all reports of election-related violations." The US has "consistently urged the Georgian government this year to walk back its anti-democratic actions and return to its Euro-Atlantic path. We do not rule out further consequences if the Georgian government's direction does not change," Miller warned.
Georgia can expect further pressure from the West, including sanctions, if the Georgian Dream Party government sticks to its independence on foreign and domestic policy, Tarasov says.
The former includes pragmatism in relations toward Russia to avoid being dragged into a Western-fueled conflict, while the latter features staunchly socially conservative policies decried by the EU and the US, plus a foreign agent law passed earlier this year to ensure transparency among NGOs, which forced would-be agents of foreign influence to register as such. That measure was also slammed by Washington and its allies.
“They’ll impose sanctions…They can’t very well send in the armed forces or some expeditionary corps. First they feed them some investments, then they impose sanctions; first they open a visa regime; then they impose bans, and so on and so forth...This is the primitive scheme in the American version of colonial rule being implemented in relation to Georgia,” the observer said.
Pointing to the unlikelihood of the West being able to oust the ruling Georgian Dream Party, which won nearly 54% of the vote and gathered enough seats to form a new government, Tarasov believes the opposition’s claims of fraud and manipulation may not be aimed at overthrowing the government, but forcing it to accept members of the opposition into a coalition to “erode” it from within.
“In this case, the plot is aimed not so much at destabilizing the domestic situation, but is a purely political technological approach designed to force Georgian Dream to accept the idea of a coalition,” Tarasov said. Once inside, the opposition can block certain policies, including regional economic and infrastructure projects like the North-South Transport Corridor that would allow Tbilisi to escape the West’s political and economic grip entirely, according to the analyst.
“The Americans understand that they cannot hold Georgia, but they can destabilize the situation in the region through it. That’s what they’re doing – it’s a holding operation,” the observer summed up.
