https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/c3gr0vp5zz0o
The Georgian authorities declare a course towards European integration of the country, but at the same time they are afraid of analogies with the Ukrainian Euromaidan. “Of course, this is all very frivolous, but, on the other hand, I don’t see anything funny in this matter. Perhaps this is exactly how events in Russia began and developed at one time,” Gvantsa Jobava, vice-president of the International Publishers Association (IPA), wrote on Facebook.
This is how she responded to a call for questioning by the Georgian State Security Service (GSS), publishing a photo of a certificate of completion of a civic activism course in Tbilisi - a training that became the reason for the authorities to attack one of Georgia’s Western donors.
The training for activists in the field of culture and art was conducted by employees of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS), based in Serbia. The classes were held as part of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) civic engagement program.
The State Security Service claims that the trainers invited to Georgia were preparing a group of activists for riots planned in October-December this year with the aim of overthrowing the government. The timing, according to the department, was not chosen by chance. Tbilisi is waiting for a decision on the status of a candidate for EU membership until the end of this year, and before that, in November, a report from the European Commission on Georgia's progress on the path to European integration is expected. The conspirators allegedly count on negative assessments and fertile ground for social unrest and unrest.
The ruling party says that Georgia deserves candidate status and calls the possible refusal unfair in advance. The opposition and the civil sector also hope for a positive solution, but accuse the authorities of failing to fulfill most of Brussels’ demands and sabotaging Georgia’s European future.
The State Security Service announced on September 18, even before the training in Tbilisi, that a “Euromaidan” was planned in Georgia. The conspirators, according to the State Security Service, are considering several scenarios, including a “tent city,” blocking central avenues and strategic facilities, and other “illegal actions.” It is planned to implement “a scenario similar to the Euromaidan that happened in Ukraine in 2014,” according to State Security Service representative Bachi Mgeladze, in coordination and with financial support from foreign states. He added that an explosion is allegedly planned in the tent city, which should lead to casualties.
The authors of the plan in the State Security Service are the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Georgiy Lortkipanidze, the former security guard of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili Mikhail Baturin and the commander of the Georgian Legion fighting in Ukraine Mamuka Mamulashvili. All of them are currently in Ukraine. In addition, the conspirators, according to the intelligence service, plan to involve a group of fighters of Georgian origin fighting in Ukraine.
According to the State Security Service, the CANVAS organization, the core of which is the Otpor organization, is involved in preparing youth for the “revolutionary scenario,” according to the State Security Service. CANVAS also called the State Security Service's accusations absurd and have nothing to do with their work in Georgia. The organization says the training there, like all of its courses, is based on a publicly available curriculum that has been taught at leading universities and in 50 countries around the world.
They consider the charges to be part of a larger campaign by Georgian intelligence services against civil society and employees of the Tbilisi organization, who, after the failure of the so-called law on foreign agents, have already become targets of attacks from the authorities. We are talking about the bill “On Transparency of Foreign Influence,” which the ruling Georgian Dream party was forced to abandon in March of this year amid mass protests.
Georgia’s strategic partner, the United States, previously responded to the State Security Service’s statements in connection with the USAID program. The United States Embassy in Georgia called the accusations against the project false and distorting the purpose of the support provided.
According to polls, the vast majority of the Georgian population supports the country's future in the European Union. Gvantsa Jobava sees analogues of what is happening today in Georgia with Russia, but is confident that the future of Georgia is in Europe.
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