“In today’s Georgia, democracy is being destroyed by the hands of the parliamentary supermajority,” - Natalie Sabanadze, Senior Fellow at Chatham House and former Georgian Ambassador to the EU said at the congressional hearing on supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and democracy held by the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) On June 4.
She stressed that the “one unaccountable man” is reversing Georgia’s long-standing foreign policy priorities. “Georgia’s rulers maintain that the law that contradicts the principles of democracy and human rights is good for us,” she said on the foreign agents law, adding the GD is trying to convince Georgians that the law will not derail the country from the Euro-Atlantic path. She also said that this law is not the only problem, but rather a “symptom” of the current political crisis.
She said the Georgia is part of the trend, not an exception. She spoke that similar to the Georgian legislation has been adopted by numerous autocratic regimes from Russia to Venezuela “to equip themselves with the legal instruments of repressions”. She also spoke about the elections’ factor: “They are working to steal elections, not on the day of the vote… but weeks and months in advance with elaborate systems of incentives and pressures.” Noting that “the methods set by autocracies are becoming more sophisticated, more veiled in vocabularies of sovereignty and traditional values” Sabandze emphasized that “civic protest movements are described as color revolutions, the work of outsiders and of local traitors manipulated by foreign governments.”
She added: ” These tactics are aimed at persuading citizens to stay our of politics, and to trade their freedom for order, their rights for a chance of prosperity and to accept the abuse of power for the sake of preserving the peace.”
“The Georgian government has joined the anti-liberal, anti-Western revolt spearheaded by Russia. In its war in Ukraine, Russia does not seek only to subjugate the Ukrainian nation and to reestablish its influence. It also seeks to de-westernize the global order. Ukraine is a major front, while lesser and ones have emerged in Georgia and elsewhere around the globe,” she said, calling for help for Georgia to avoid falling under Russia’s influence.
The hearing came amid the recent adoption of the Russian-style foreign agents law and the U.S. announcement of sanctions against those undermining democracy in Georgia and a comprehensive review of all U.S.-Georgian cooperation, as well as the introduction of the MEGOBARI Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, and another piece of legislation- Georgia People’s Act (GPA) in the U.S. Senate, both of which envisage imposing sanctions on Georgian officials and reviewing U.S.-Georgia relations.
