Assistance for “European way”
Steinmeier: Georgians want to go to Europe politically
3/11/2023 2:53 am
Thousands of Georgians have been demonstrating for days against a controversial media law based on the Russian model. Domestically, there is a struggle for the country’s path. Federal President Steinmeier assures his Georgian counterpart of her support for a European path.
According to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany is supporting Georgia “on the European path”. “People in Georgia want the way to Europe,” said Steinmeier, according to the Office of the Federal President, in a telephone call with his Georgian colleague Salome Zurabischvili on the situation in the Caucasus state.
A protester at protests in Tbilisi.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa/TASS)
“Germany is supporting Georgia on the European path,” said Steinmeier, according to the statement. “This includes the freedom of the media and civil society.” He is grateful for Zurabischvili’s “clear and strong voice for freedom and democracy”.
There have been protests in Georgia for several days. The trigger was a controversial draft law on a “Foreign Agents Act”. It is reminiscent of a law in Russia that has been used to suppress critics for years. The Georgian government initially took action against the demonstrators who chanted pro-European slogans, but then announced on Thursday that it was withdrawing the draft law. Parliament stopped the law on Friday.
Where is the journey going?
The pro-Western Georgian President Zurabishvili had sharply criticized the proposed law. She described the withdrawal of the draft as a success for the demonstrators. “I would like to congratulate the society on its first success. I am proud of the people who made their voices heard,” said Zurabishvili.
Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has been in prison since 2021, praised the demonstrators’ “brilliant resistance” to the “brutal violence used against them”.
The former Soviet Republic of Georgia is actually aiming to join the EU and NATO. Recently, however, several measures have indicated that the country under Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili could turn to Russia. This speaks of a “balanced” policy that should ensure “peace and stability”. Western criticism of a “regression in democracy” has recently clouded relations between Tbilisi and Brussels.