#Mikheil Saakashvili

[almanach-international]

9 avril : la Journée de l’unité nationale en Géorgie

Ce 9 avril est le 35e anniversaire de la répression sanglante d’une manifestation anti-soviétique dans les rues de Tbilissi. Depuis 1992, cette date est un jour férié dénommé Journée de l'Unité nationale (ეროვნული ერთიანობის დღე).

Le 4 avril 1989, des dizaines de milliers de Géorgiens s’étaient rassemblées pour une manifestation pacifique et des grèves de la faim exigeant le rétablissement de l'indépendance géorgienne. Voyant qu’elles perdaient le contrôle de la situation les autorités de la république soviétique de Géorgie ont fait appel à l’armée et demandé l’évacuation de, l’avenue Roustavéli, l’artère centrale de la capitale. Les manifestants ont refusé de se disperser. Le 9 avril, à 3h45 du matin, les troupes soviétiques dirigées par le général Igor Rodionov encerclèrent la zone de manifestation. Leur mission était de faire évacuer les lieux par tous les moyens. L’intervention a provoqué 21 morts et plusieurs centaines de blessés, certains empoisonnés avec du gaz d’une composition inconnue. Les organisateurs des manifestation, dont Zviad Gamsakhourdia et Merab Kostava, ont été arrêtés et un couvre-feu a été décrété à Tbilissi.

Le « Dimanche sanglant » du 9 avril, entraînera la démission du gouvernement et radicalisera l'opposition géorgienne au pouvoir Soviétique. Quelques mois plus tard, une session du Conseil suprême de la RSS de Géorgie, les 17 et 18 novembre 1989, va officiellement condamner l'occupation et l'annexion de Géorgie par la Russie soviétique en 1921.

Le 9 avril est la date qui a été retenue pour la proclamation, par Zviad Gamsakhourdia, de la souveraineté et de l’indépendance de la Géorgie en 1991, précédant de quelques semaines celle de la Russie puis la disparition de l’URSS, en décembre de la même année. Le 31 mars 1991, les Géorgiens avaient voté massivement (99% de oui avec 90% de participation) en faveur de l'indépendance de leur pays.

Toutefois, en dépit de son appellation, le 9 avril est loin d’être toujours une journée d’unité nationale. En 2009, le 9 avril avait notamment été choisi par une coalition de partis d'opposition pour contester la gouvernance de Mikheil Saakashvili pour le forcer la démission.

Selon la présidente Salomé Zurabishvili, la victoire du 9 avril (1991) se manifeste dans le fait que la Géorgie rétablie comme successeur légitime de l'État de 1918. « Tout le monde a gagné : les cadets de 1921, les officiers fusillés de 1923 et le patriarche Ambroise de Géorgie, les rebelles de 1922, 1923, 1924 et bien sûr les héros du 9 avril et Zviad Gamsakhourdia », a-t-elle ajouté dans un discours prononcé le 9 avril 2021.

L’Unité nationale n’est toujours pas à l’ordre du jour : la Géorgie est aujourd’hui très divisée entre une part importante de l’opinion publique, appuyée par la présidente Salomé Zurabishvili, qui pousse le pays à se rapprocher de l’Occident et le gouvernement ouvertement pro Kremlin qui s’aligne sur la législation russe, mettant à mal la démocratie.

Un article de l'Almanach international des éditions BiblioMonde, 8 avril 2024

[timesofocean]

Thousands rally in Georgia to push government on EU membership

New Post has been published on https://www.timesofocean.com/rally-in-georgia-to-push-government-on-eu-membership/

Thousands rally in Georgia to push government on EU membership

Belgrade, Serbia (The Times Groupe) – The Georgian capital Tbilisi was filled with thousands of protesters calling on the government to maintain the country’s EU membership course. GEORGIA

On Sunday, demonstrators gathered outside the parliament and urged the government to implement the necessary reforms to integrate Georgia into the European Union.

A rally was organized by the United National Movement (UNM), the main opposition party founded by jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.

They chanted slogans for closer ties with the EU as they waved Georgian and EU flags.

As well as banners supporting Saakashvili, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for abuse of power, protesters also condemned Russia.

UNM opposition leaders accused the government of backsliding on democracy and acting under Russian influence.

As a result of not meeting the EU’s 12-point criteria, the government of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili failed to secure Georgia’s EU candidate status last year.

After Ukraine applied for EU membership on Feb. 28, just four days after Russia launched its first attack, Georgia and Moldova applied on March 3 last year.

The EU Commission granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova on June 17, but said Georgia’s bid would be reassessed once it met the bloc’s criteria. Times of ocean TIBLISN

[understanding-hold-on]

anyway my father met the president of georgia once. what the fuck. like i learned about that dude in school, my dear father what do YOU MEAN YOU SHOOK HIS FUCKING HAND.

[sauolasa]

Mikheil Saakashvili drasticamente debilitato. Zelensky: "Fatelo tornare in Ucraina"

L'ex presidente georgiano Mikheil Saakashvili è apparso drasticamente debilitato durante una testimonianza in video conferenza presso il tribunale di Tblisi. Volodymyr Zelensky ha lanciato un appello per chiedere alla Georgia di far tornare il cittadino ucraino a casa per le necessarie cure mediche

[zvaigzdelasas]

[NYTimes is Private US Media]

On Saturday, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the governing Georgian Dream party, who built his fortune in banking, metals and real estate in Russia, said that the people of South Ossetia, which broke away from Georgia in the 1990s and expanded with Russian support in 2008, should receive an apology for the war that eventually broke out.

His comments at a rally in Gori, a town that was briefly occupied by Russian forces in 2008, were quickly condemned by pro-Western activists and the opposition. They also highlighted how Georgia’s relationship with the West has deteriorated over the past months.

On Monday, the United States announced that it had imposed sanctions against two Georgian officials and two activists associated with a pro-Russian political group that it said were involved in violent suppression of protests this year.[...]

In a statement, Mikheil Saakashvili, who was Georgia’s president at the time of the 2008 war [and Governor of the Odesa Oblast in Ukraine from May 2015 until November 2016, before being stripped of Ukrainian Citizenship], called Mr. Ivanishvili’s statement “an unprecedented betrayal” and “an insult to the memory of the heroes who sacrificed for our country.”

“He asked Georgians to apologize for the invader,” said Mr. Saakashvili, who is serving a six-year sentence in Georgia on charges related to abuse of power that he says were politically motivated.[...]

In 2009, an independent fact-finding mission set up by the European Union found that the war was initiated by “a sustained Georgian artillery attack” that was not “justifiable under international law” but that “much of the Russian military action went far beyond the reasonable limits of defense.” The report also accused all sides, including separatist formations, of violating international humanitarian law.[...]

Mr. Ivanishvili, who entered Georgian politics in the early 2010s, promised a “Nuremberg trial” against members of the United National Movement, a pro-Western party that was in power during the 2008 war, after parliamentary elections next month.

After the elections, he said, “all the perpetrators of the destruction of the Georgian-Ossetian brotherhood and coexistence will receive the strictest legal response.” He called the opposition “criminals” and “traitors” who “in 2008 burned our Ossetian sisters and brothers in flames.”

“We will definitely find strength in ourselves to apologize,” said Mr. Ivanishvili, who is officially an honorary chairman of the governing party, but who is widely believed to be its shadow leader.[...]

In May, defying large-scale protests, the Georgian government passed a law that aims to limit the influence of pro-Western nongovernmental groups and media outlets in the country.

16 Sep 24

[deadpresidents]

Everyone knows about Lincoln and Garfield and McKinley and Kennedy, the quartet of America Presidents who fell victim to assassination. Even the most casual observers of Presidential history can probably name the four Presidents who were murdered while in office, and many even know the names of the four assassins responsible for their deaths: Booth, Guiteau, Czolgosz, and Oswald.

There have also been quite a few (in)famous unsuccessful assassination attempts, where Presidents barely escaped with their lives, that many Americans are familiar with, including (but not limited to):

•Richard Lawrence's miraculously unlucky double misfire on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in 1835 which left Andrew Jackson unharmed but resulted in Lawrence -- who would be found not guilty by reason of insanity -- getting viciously pummeled by the cane-wielding President Jackson until Davy Crockett intervened to save the would-be assassin from the 67-year-old President. •The shooting of former President Theodore Roosevelt in Milwaukee as he sought another term in the White House during the 1912 Presidential election. Despite being shot in the chest, Roosevelt decided to go ahead and deliver his campaign speech before being taken to the hospital where doctors discovered that the bullet lodged inside of TR had first passed through a case for his eyeglasses and the thick pages of his speech in his jacket's pocket, lessening the damage from the gunshot. •The attempted assassination of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami in February 1933, just seventeen days in before FDR's Inauguration, which wounded four people and killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. •The ill-fated 1950 attempt by Puerto Rican nationalists to storm Blair House (the temporary Presidential residence during the renovation of the White House) and kill President Harry S. Truman as he was napping. Truman was not hurt, but a White House Police Officer and one of the two assassins were killed during the wild shootout. •President Gerald Ford's trouble with two California women who separately tried to kill him in Sacramento and then San Francisco just two weeks apart in September 1975. •The shocking shooting of President Ronald Reagan in broad daylight from just a few yards away as he exited the Washington Hilton following a speech in March 1981, which left four people wounded and very nearly killed the 70-year-old Reagan just two months into his Presidency.

But what is amazing is that, in this age of instant information and the constant regurgitation of media coverage via the 24-hour news cycle, very few Americans know that there is a man sitting in prison in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia for attempting to assassinate President George W. Bush. What even less Americans realize is how close Vladimir Arutyunian actually came to accomplishing his task.

On May 10, 2005, President Bush spoke to a large crowd at an outdoor rally in Tbilisi, Georgia. In one of the photos at the top of this post, Bush is seen speaking from the stage in Tbilisi. The other photo is of Arutyunian holding a plaid handkerchief close to his chest. Wrapped in that handkerchief was a live hand grenade.

As President Bush spoke, nearby sat his wife, Laura, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and the Dutch-born First Lady of Georgia, Sandra Roelofs. They had no idea that, during the speech, Arutyunian tossed his handkerchief-wrapped grenade towards the stage. The grenade landed just 61 feet away from President Bush, well within range of causing serious injury, if not death.

Of course, the grenade did not explode. At first, it was thought to be a dud, but upon closer inspection it was discovered that the only reason the grenade didn't explode was because Arutyunian's handkerchief -- used to conceal the explosive as he stood in the crowd -- was wrapped too tightly around the grenade, preventing the firing pin from deploying. A Georgian security official noticed the grenade, grabbed it quickly and disposed of it as Arutyunian disappeared into the massive crowd and President Bush continued speaking.

After Bush's speech was over and once it was recognized that the President had only narrowly escaped a legitimate attempted assassination, Georgian police worked closely with the United States Secret Service, the FBI, and the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the assassination attempt and find the would-be assassin who seemingly melted into Tbilisi after his brazen, albeit unsuccessful attempt on Bush's life. Using DNA evidence and tips from informants, the Georgian police ultimately tracked down Arutyunian two months later. When they went to arrest Arutyunian, a gunfight broke out and Arutyunian killed Zurab Kvlividze, a top counterterrorism official with Georgia's Interior Ministry. Arutyunian was wounded before finally being captured with the assistance of Georgian Special Forces.

The Georgians tried Arutyunian on the murder of the police officer, as well as the attempted assassinations of President Bush and President Saakshvili. Arutyunian was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. A federal grand jury in the United States also indicted Arutyunian on the federal charge of the attempted assassination of the President of the United States, which is a felony. The U.S., however, has not attempted nor has any potential plans to extradite the failed assassin from Georgia, and Arutyunian will almost certainly spend the rest of his life in a Georgian prison.

[allthegeopolitics]

Georgia’s ruling party has vowed to outlaw virtually all of its political opponents if it wins parliamentary elections later this year. The ban would likely leave Georgia’s already frozen bid to join the EU in tatters, after recent clashes between Tbilisi and Brussels on human rights and the rule of law. On Friday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the government would seek to ban more than half a dozen parties following October’s critical nationwide vote. That comes days after the ruling Georgian Dream party threatened to dissolve the largest opposition grouping in parliament, the United National Movement (UNM) which was founded by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Continue Reading.

[mariacallous]

TBILISI – Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president, has issued an urgent warning to the West that Russia is preparing to seize his country after this weekend’s election with the help of a billionaire oligarch who made his money in Moscow.

He believes the Kremlin aims to reimpose its authority over this key Western ally by falsifying results, cracking down on protests,and banning opposition parties to crush its fledgling democracy and send a signal to other former Soviet states.

“Russia is planning to seize another European country,” he said, in a warning passed to me in seven pages of handwritten notes from behind bars. “If Georgia is lost that would signify a huge loss for the West, its values and geopolitical interests.”

His ousting after nine years in office was by Georgian Dream, a party set up a few months earlier by the country’s richest man Bidzina Ivanishvili. The 2012 election marked the country’s first democratic transition of power.

Mr Saakashvili’s warning comes amid growing domestic and diplomatic fears that Mr Ivanishvili is stealthily steering this fiercely pro-European country back into Russian hands.

“When I warned the West about the threat to Georgia they thought I was provoking and rather crazy. Then my worst fears materialised and Russia militarily attacked my country,” wrote Mr Saakashvili, who also served as governor of Odessa in Ukraine.

“After I warned loudly about an imminent attack on Ukraine, even my friends in the West considered I was saying this because I was bitter about the attack on Georgia.

“When I warned the West that Ivanishvili was not just like any other politician but rather he was a direct Russian agent, they thought I was just trying to stay in power, which was never the case.”

Georgia’s 3.7 million people go to polls on Saturday in a vote that is widely seen as a referendum to determine their future: whether to continue with moves to join the European Union and Nato or slide back into Moscow’s control under Mr Ivanishvili.

The mysterious billionaire – who made a fortune in banking and commodities during Russia’s “gangster capitalism” period after the Soviet Union’s collapse – has been attacking the “global war party” that supposedly dominates the West while claiming his party will protect Georgia from the fate suffered by Ukraine.

Georgian Dream rejected sanctions on Russia after Ukraine’s full-scale invasion, to the fury of Kyiv, openly says it will ban rival parties, and earlier this year passed laws that mimic Vladimir Putin’s measures targeting LGBT citizens and silencing dissent.

Its controversial “Russia law” – which labels organisation with more than 20 per cent funding from abroad as “foreign agents” – sparked weeks of mass protests met with beatings and tear gas. Washington condemned it as a “Kremlin-inspired” law.

Mr Saakashvili believes Mr Putin is actively supporting Mr Ivanishvili to “fully return Georgia to Russia as a historical crown jewel of their empire” while shutting off the West from key energy and transportation corridors to Central Asia and Azerbaijan.

“It would also carry a huge symbolic meaning since Georgia was regarded as a bulwark of the Western influence in our region and a role model for reforms and success. Ending it would send a powerful signal to other potential Western allies.”

The former president says Georgian Dream plans to falsify election results, crack down hard on subsequent protests and then go on “a rampage” of banning rival parties, mass arrests and shutting down dissenting voices in the media and NGOs.

He also fears Mr Ivanishvili – who last month suggested Georgia should apologise for the 2008 war that led to seizure of its South Ossetia region, about 850 deaths and forcibly displaced 192,000 people – will carry out threats to put him and other leading members of his party on trial for resisting Russia’s invasion.

Mr Saakashvili wants to see the West urgently impose the sanctions being threatened against Ivanishvili and his close circle. “It is important to act now while it is not too late,” he said.

Mr Saakashvili’s concerns over election rigging and a subsequent crackdown are shared by opposition parties, think tanks and Western diplomats in Tbilisi. Russia’s foreign ministry is fuelling the tensions with suggestions that the US is preparing a coup.

Even Mr Ivanishvili’s ex-ministers and aides endorsed the fears. “Bidzina [Ivanishvili] ‘s primary concern has always been his own safety and wellbeing,” said Gia Khukhashvili, a former friend and adviser. “He made fatal mistakes that left him as Putin’s hostage.”

The economist believes that the billionaire, spooked by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, offered clandestine backing to the Kremlin. “When you declare loyalty to an empire, it sees it as a sign of weakness and Russia demanded guarantees of that loyalty,” Mr Khukhashvili said.

“If Georgian Dream stays in power, Russia will accelerate Georgia’s reintegration into the Russian Empire. Like Belarus, this process will intensify.”

He sees the election as a test for Moscow’s ability to take back lost nations while grabbing a crucial crossroads between East and West. “By controlling Georgia, Russia solves the problem of re-establishing the Soviet Union’s influence in the south,” he said.

The election is complicated by Mr Saakashvili’s legacy, however, since he remains a polarising figure in Georgia due to the rapid pace of his modernisation programmes and alleged human rights abuses in later years of office after Russia’s attack.

His appeal over his sentence was rejected in May by the European Court of Human Rights. There has, however, been concern over his health after hunger strikes and due to the lack of proper medical care. His mother now prepares all food for him in prison after claims that he suffered a poisoning attempt.

The former president told me that he was being deprived of his most basic rights. “I have no right to make phone calls or to meet members of parliament. I haven’t seen sun and have not been exposed to fresh air for more than three years.”

Tina Bokuchava, the chair of his United National Movement and leading opposition figure, hailed him as their country’s greatest visionary who “dared to imagine a brighter future for Georgian and dared to make it a reality”.

She said there was no longer any ambiguity over Georgian Dream’s pro-Russia stance and that their European future was at stake in this weekend’s election after success in shedding their “Soviet debris” and emerging as a democratic nation.

“Putin does not like democracies, especially successful democracies, on his doorstep. It represents a threat to his rule and undermines his authority.”

Georgian Dream claims it can advance into Europe while keeping Mr Putin at bay. Yet, even one party activist told me she was dismayed by its backsliding on Europe and pro-Russian rhetoric but feared speaking out due to concern over reprisals.

“I’m not going to vote for them,” she said, adding that she was scared their stance might lead to another war following post-election turmoil. “People will be killed senselessly and those in power will still look after their own interests.”

Georgian Dream denied it is subverting their nation’s future in Europe, rejected concerns over vote-rigging and insisted it would win the election easily – although its polls backing such claims are not widely viewed as credible.

This is just another election where people should decide whether they want peace and economic growth, said Nikoloz Samkharadze, a senior MP with the party, who said it was “complete nonsense” to accuse them of following Putin’s path.

“There is no evidence that in the last 12 years of Georgian Dream’s government, Georgia has done anything that would serve the interests of Russia in this country or in this region.”

Yet, this contrasts with the message sent to me from his jail cell by Mr Saakashvili ahead of this vital election. “The West should be aware and ready,” he concluded.

i has attempted to contact Mr Ivanishvili for comment.

[blackpilledkremlintsarina5294]

December 4, 2008

As Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin continued to communicate with the nation during live broadcasts. The conversation with Vladimir Putin lasted about three hours. There were many questions about the economy, housing, and the Government’s social policy. “The situation was much more difficult in the early 2000,” Putin told the reporters. “There was a threat to our country’s territorial integrity and a risk of total social and economic collapse. But we came through it. We will manage this time as well.”

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin implied that he had privately voiced a desire to hang Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili "by the balls" during the war in Georgia last August. Asked during a live televised appearance whether he had threatened to hang Saakashvili "by one special place." Putin paused, looked directly into the camera, and coyly replied: "Why just one?"

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 4.9 (after 1950)

1952 – Hugo Ballivián's government is overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution, starting a period of agrarian reform, universal suffrage and the nationalization of tin mines 1952 – Japan Air Lines Flight 301 crashes into Mount Mihara, Izu Ōshima, Japan, killing 37. 1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping following the Suez Crisis. 1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven". 1960 – Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa and architect of apartheid, narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a white farmer, David Pratt in Johannesburg. 1967 – The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight. 1969 – The first British-built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford with Brian Trubshaw as the test pilot. 1980 – The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture. 1981 – The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it and killing two Japanese sailors. 1989 – Tbilisi massacre: An anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strike in Tbilisi, demanding restoration of Georgian independence, is dispersed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries. 1990 – An IRA bombing in County Down, Northern Ireland, kills three members of the UDR. 1990 – The Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement is signed for 180,000 square kilometres (69,000 sq mi) in the Mackenzie Valley of the western Arctic. 1990 – An Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia collides in mid-air with a Cessna 172 over Gadsden, Alabama, killing both of the Cessna's occupants. 1991 – Georgia declares independence from the Soviet Union. 1992 – A U.S. Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison. 1994 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-59. 2003 – Iraq War: Baghdad falls to American forces. 2009 – In Tbilisi, Georgia, up to 60,000 people protest against the government of Mikheil Saakashvili. 2013 – A 6.1–magnitude earthquake strikes Iran killing 32 people and injuring over 850 people. 2013 – At least 13 people are killed and another three injured after a man goes on a spree shooting in the Serbian village of Velika Ivanča. 2014 – A student stabs 20 people at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. 2017 – The Palm Sunday church bombings at Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, take place. 2017 – After refusing to give up his seat on an overbooked United Express flight, Dr. David Dao Duy Anh is forcibly dragged off the flight by aviation security officers, leading to major criticism of United Airlines. 2021 – Burmese military and security forces commit the Bago massacre, during which at least 82 civilians are killed.

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

... to understand Putin, all we had to do was to listen. My first article of warning was published in the Wall Street Journal in January 4th, 2001. And all I did, I just was listening to Putin's own words. And when Putin said that there were no such a thing as a former KGB agent, I knew that Russia's fragile democracy was in danger. And when Putin said, actually repeatedly said that collapse with the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of 20th century, I knew Russians knew the independent neighbors were at risk. And eventually when Putin talked at the Munich Security Conference, 15 years ago in 2007, about return to spheres of influence I knew he was ready to launch his attack because that was the language of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, language used by Hitler and Stalin to divide Europe. And of course, next year he attacked Republic of Georgia. And I remember that after this attack, which for me was just the most convincing proof of his intentions, the West didn't respond. They tried to spread the blame between the Republic of Georgia and then President Mikheil Saakashvili and Putin's Russia though, technically Putin was not the president at the time. He was puppet master behind the stage, having his shadow man Medvedev sitting in Kremlin. And America, instead of doing something, offered a reset policy. And I wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal, and I predicted attack on Ukraine. And later people asked me, "How did you know?" I said, "I looked at the map." And then of course Crimea. I mean, what else did you need to understand that Putin would not respect any international treatise signed by Russia. And for him, Crimea was a very important step in this direction because America and Great Britain had some kind of legal responsibilities to defend Ukraine because in 1994, there was a so-called Budapest Memorandum, when after heavy pressure from Clinton administration, Ukrainians gave up their nuclear arsenal, which few people remember was a third largest in the world. Ukraine have more nuclear warheads than China, France, and Great Britain combined. And then, what we heard is, "Oh, memorandum is not a binding document." And Putin heard what he wanted, so where he could continue his expansion, recovering Soviet Russian influence without any consequences, because the sanctions that were announced, though they were trumpeted as something very powerful, they had almost no impact on Russian economy.(..) ...the free world had to respond at early stage at any sign of recurring Russian nationalism. That's why I mentioned Boris Yeltsin. And then of course, Putin demonstrated it and spoke about it quite frankly. And I think every time when he spoke about it, that's why I mentioned the conference in Munich in 2007, he had no response. The moment when Putin talked about spheres of influence, Americans had to respond even harshly to tell him that just remember it's 21st century, this is not 19th century. And it's not surprising that Putin eventually got a message, what he wanted to hear, same way as Hitler in Sudetes. "Oh, I could do that." And then he thought that he could go even beyond Europe.(..) In 1994, United States pressed Ukraine to give up nuclear weapons. I think that it's maybe not today, but definitely before the war, this administration have been pressing the Ukrainians to accept so called Minsk deal that would offer Putin political control of Ukraine. Ukraine was a destruction for this administration and still a destruction now. And when you said Putin expected to win the work quickly, yes. So CIA and so Pentagon. So yes, I'm shocked now that the Director Burns and General Millie, those who blundered here, because they talked about Ukraine capital would fall in 96 hours. That Ukraine would not last for more than three or four days.(..) ... God forbid, Putin wins in Ukraine, he will not stop there. And are you sure that this piece of paper called Article 5 will stop him? I'm shocked to that oh, we have no obligations to defend Ukraine because it's not member of NATO, but we will fight for every inch of NATO territory. How come? Are you going to fight in Poland against Martians or against the same Russians? If you're afraid of Putin's nukes, why these nations should believe America that America will come to their rescue facing Putin army, blood-thirsty army that will be fresh of success in Ukraine. Right now, we have a unique opportunity to destroy Putin's war machine using Ukrainian manpower and determination and their spirit and all we need is to offer them real help, give them weapons. And also, in the strategy and strategy includes not only tanks, but also banks. (..) The war would not take place if Ukraine are member of NATO. And also ... You're talking about obligations. I don't know what's moral obligations, or you're talking about piece of paper. Again, Budapest memoranda was now in the same piece of paper. I don't want for us to check if Article 5 is also piece of paper the moment Putin crosses a native borders in Lithuania or Poland, actually most likely Lithuania, small country that doesn't have the same resource as Ukraine to fight back. (..) Russian history has many cases where the groups in power, they unsatisfied or scared by the policies of the leader, they conspired against him. So now with Putin, it's different because it's a dictatorship, a fascist dictatorship and he has all the power. I think he has even more power than Stalin because Stalin had politburo and people like Beria. Putin is surrounded by his cronies and henchmen with no aspirations to take over. But even the worst cowards can act out of their fear if they understand that the ship is going to sink and the precondition for any change in Russia, whether it's the social-economic revolt on the streets with millions of people getting to the streets and protesting, or with Putin's entourage deciding it's time to act and to find scapegoat, which is always a dictator. It's a military defeat in Ukraine. Until Russian troops are defeated in Ukraine, decisively, that you cannot hide this anymore, nothing will happen. And that's why I think that state of free-world must supply  Ukraine with everything they need to win the war, unless it happens, there will be no revolt on the streets or what you call palace coup.

Garry Kasparov

ALL OF THIS. Kasparov put it brilliantly.

"Good" job, West, for buying in Russia's manipulations for decades. By the way, the conversation above happened in April 2022 and the powerful Western countries still withhold the aviation that Ukraine so urgently needs to both protect its sky (when, you know, Russians deliberately are hitting Ukrainian civilians with rockets daily) and attack. As a Latvian I can say that I have no belief whatsoever that if - God forbid - Russia attacks my country NATO will respond timely and effectively. All hope on Ukraine.

[beardedmrbean]

Thousands of protesters rallied outside the Georgian parliament on Sunday amid mounting opposition to the country's government.

Critics accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of being under the sway of Russia and of backsliding on democracy.

The government has been accused of jailing political opponents and silencing independent media.

The rally was organised by the main opposition party in support of jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Mr Saakashvili, who served two terms as president between 2004 and 2013, is currently serving a six-year jail term for abuse of power, although international rights groups have condemned his conviction as politically motivated.

Last month, mass protests forced the government to abandon a bill that would have required any non-governmental organisation receiving money from abroad to register as an "agent of foreign influence".

Opponents said the bill was modelled on one introduced in Russia in 2012 to suppress dissent and called it a step towards authoritarianism. The protests saw police use water cannon and pepper spray on attendees.

On Sunday, demonstrators outside the parliament building in capital Tbilisi waved Georgian, Ukrainian and European Union flags and held a huge banner that read: "For a European future".

Public opinion in Georgia is overwhelmingly pro-EU, and the government says it remains committed to the country's bid to join the bloc, but opponents say its actions are harming Georgia's chances of gaining membership.

Georgia applied for EU membership along with Ukraine and Moldova days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

In June, the EU formally named Ukraine and Moldova as candidate member states, but said Georgia must implement a number of political and judicial reforms before being given the status.

Addressing the rally, Levan Khabeishvili, chair of the United National Movement party, which was founded by Mr Saakashvili, called for the "liberation of political prisoners" and the introduction of the reforms Brussels has asked for.

Georgia drops 'foreign agents' law after protests

Police in Georgia fire water cannon and pepper spray at protesters

Protests highlight struggle for Georgia's future

Giorgi Margvelashvili, who succeeded Mr Saakashvili as president, told the crowd that the Georgian government was "being controlled from Moscow and our obligation is to save our homeland from Russian stooges".

"We are freedom-loving people, part of the European family, we reject Russian slavery," he said.

One of the demonstrators, 27-year-old painter Luka Kavsadze, told the AFP news agency: "Our struggle will be peaceful but uncompromised and will lead us to where we belong - the European Union."

Recent months have seen Mr Saakashvili stage a number of hunger strikes, and his supporters have claimed he is being denied proper healthcare.

Mr Saakashvili has also alleged he has been poisoned in prison, although Georgian authorities have accused him of feigning ill health to secure early release. In an article for the Politico website earlier this week Mr Saakashvili said he was dying from "from a bewildering array of over 20 serious illnesses".

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La Georgia in piazza per chiedere la scarcerazione dell'ex presidente Mikheil Saakashvili

Una mobilitazione internazionale è stata organizzata il 4 gennaio in Georgia e altre nazioni europee, per chiedere la liberazione dell'ex presidente