1/16 A concluding 🧵on #NoToRussianLaw protests against the Russian-inspired law in Georgia. A big win for Georgian society, but the ruling Georgian Dream party has not suffered a strategic defeat yet:
2/16 Background: the Georgian Dream (GD) party created a spin-off group People's Power in August 2022 in order to openly and actively push anti-Western sentiments and 🇷🇺 friendly discourse in 🇬🇪. Over the months, the group lambasted the U.S. Embassy in 🇬🇪 and Ambassador Degnan.
3/16 The group of MPs has remained in the parliamentary majority and continued to be full-fledged members of the ruling party. To increase the reach of their disinformation campaigns, one of the members of People's Power MP Viktor Japaridze acquired the POSTV channel.
4/16 The POSTV is a Russian-style propaganda channel previously linked to the Georgian Dream. The primary objective of the channel is to disrepute the opposition, discredit pro-Western forces, support GD's policies and attack international partners.
5/16 Past few months, People's Power echoed and amplified GD's propaganda rhetoric that the West is trying to drag Georgia into war against Russia forcing it to open "the second front". They also scolded the Ukrainian govt for its criticism of Georgia's lack of support.
6/16 In January, People's power proposed two draft laws on "foreign agents". The bills would require NGOs and media organizations to register as “agents of foreign influence” if 20% of their funds come from abroad. Failure to comply would result in fines of around 9 000$.
7/16 The second “foreign agent” draft law also included individuals and legal entities, with more harsh penalties, including prison time. The tandem of GD and People's Power underlined that the purpose of the bills was to increase transparency.
8/16 In reality, every legal entity in 🇬🇪 is already required to audit and submit information about their funds to the Ministry of Finance and Revenue Service. The bills basically mirrored the Russian law on foreign agents adopted in 2012.
9/16 Int'l partners including the US, EU, NATO & others criticized the bills and called on the govt to refuse to pass them. 🇪🇺🇺🇸 made it very clear that the bills go against 🇬🇪's Euro-Atlantic path, 12 recommendations for the EU candidacy & the will of the GEO people.
10/16 The majority passed the first bill on 7 March in its first reading which sparked massive protests as GEO society felt that it undermines democracy, jeopardizes the country's European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations and most importantly goes against the will of the GEO people.
11/16 GD tried to crack down on protests for 2 days using tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons. However, the GEO people showed their determination and the GD was forced to make a U-turn. GD dropped the first draft law and recalled the second as well as released the detainees.
12/16 After this huge blow, the Kremlin activated a disinformation campaign about the protests accusing the West of staging the "Maidan revolution" in Georgia. The Kremlin and Georgian Dream narratives about protests were aligned. medium.com/dfrlab/the-kre…
13/16 The GD made a tactical retreat rather than a surrender. For sure, it is a big interim win for Georgian society. However, the GD might attempt the counter-offensive as they prepare for the 2024 elections, therefore civil society must be vigilant.
14/16 The demonstrations have been self-organized without opposition parties leading them. Gen Z became a driving force for resolute protests as they understand the perks of democracy better than anybody. Hence, the 🇬🇪 democracy is in good hands.
15/16 The protests created a wave in pop-culture too.
📽️ Ziad Aliev
16/16 P.S Georgia and Ukraine will prevail. Vse bude Ukraina and Sakartvelo. 🇬🇪🇺🇦 #TbilisiProtests#NoToRussia
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Macron's very important statements regarding Ukraine
If Ukraine decides and asks for allied forces to be on its territory, it is not up to Russia to accept or not. 1/4 ⬇️
A thirty-day ceasefire has made it possible to reconcile views and agree on a process that allows for the establishment of trust. 2/4
Moscow's refusal and the implicit threats that have been made (...) demonstrate the insincerity of Russia's commitment and, ultimately, its unwillingness to undertake genuine peacemaking. 3/4
Oleksandr Bevz, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, shares exclusive details of the U.S.-Ukraine negotiations:
There was no discussion of Ukraine being expected to make any territorial concessions or recognize any territory as part of Russia. 1/12⬇️
The conversation began with a clear reaffirmation that Ukraine will never recognize occupation. Not a single piece of Ukrainian land occupied by Russia since 2014 will ever be recognized as part of the Russian Federation. 2/12
Any such recognition by other international actors—states or organizations—sets an extremely dangerous precedent. And we did not get the impression that the American position on this has changed. 3/12
General Zaluzhnyi's comprehensive perspective on the war, security guarantees, and a new security architecture.
Ukraine is bleeding out, but miraculously continuing to fight. Yet, we are already seeing critical points that could shake its ability to defend itself. 1/14⬇️
And still, Ukraine fights—it’s some kind of miracle—against the Axis of Evil.
In 2024, Russia entered with what we are told are supposedly insignificant strategic agreements with Iran, China, and North Korea, merging their economies. Has Ukraine joined any alliance? No.
Until a coalition, similar to Anti-Hitler coalition, is formed that can stop this Axis of Evil—whether militarily or economically—there will be no recovery. 3/
Robert Brovdi, Commander of the Ukrainian 414th Separate Brigade of Unmanned Combat Aerial Systems - Madyar's Birds, shares valuable insights into the evolution of drone warfare:
Drones have fundamentally changed the doctrine of the Russia-Ukraine war. 1/14 ⬇️
The timely appearance of drones and their increasing role in combat effectiveness—now responsible for over 50% of confirmed kills, even by conservative estimates—has made commanders highly dependent on them. 2/14
In the first year of drone operations, we were able to hit about 150 to 200 targets per month. This served as a significant motivator for us, as we were actually taking out the first units of armored vehicles. 3/14
The failure to qualify the actions of Russia as aggression is a huge challenge for the entire world and Europe in particular. Not just the axis of evil are trying to revise the world order, but ultimately U.S. is destroying it. 1/13⬇️
Formal conditions for the revision of the world order are clear, and the reference point for this is the potential end of the war in Ukraine. The world order is now ruined; Look at the U.S., the White House has questioned the unity of the Western world. 2/13
Now Washington is trying to delegate security issues to Europe without the participation of the U.S., so we can say that in the near future, NATO can stop existing. 3/13
We cannot forget that Russia began to invade Ukraine in 2014 and we then negotiated a ceasefire in Minsk. And the same Russia did not respect this ceasefire.
Today, we can no longer take Russia's word for it. 1/5⬇️
Ukraine has the right to peace and security for itself, and it is in our interest and in the interest of the security of the European continent. It is in this sense that we are working with our British, German and several other European friends. 2/5
Russia continues to rearm, and by 2030, it plans to further increase its army, adding 300,000 soldiers, 3,000 tanks, and 300 more fighter planes. Who can believe, in this context, that today's Russia will stop at Ukraine? Russia has become, a threat to France and to Europe. 3/5