Portraits of TV cameraman Lekso Lashkarava are placed next to a broken camera during his funeral in Tbilisi on July 13
Violence by hate groups grips Tbilisi
Hate groups rampaged through the streets of Tbilisi for hours on July 5, the day that LGBTQ+ activists planned to hold a public march. In the most emblematic scene of the day's brutality, a violent crowd gathered at the downtown offices of Tbilisi Pride, the group organizing the LGBTQ+ event. Some of the men climbed the walls, reaching the rainbow flag-decked balcony on the third floor. They tore off the flags from the railing and threw them down to the cheering crowd.
"They kept kicking me in my face," recounted Davit Koridze, an RFE/RL reporter, who was attacked along with a colleague. "Police stood 10 meters away...they saw us being attacked by 10 men, heard us screaming but did nothing."
[Update-1]
A Brief History of Georgian-American Relations | SWP-Berlin |
Georgia and the United States can now look back at almost three decades of shared relations. Although a significant development process is observed over the course of that period and the political actors have changed on both sides, echoes of earlier episodes are found throughout the present relationship, whether through continuity, evolution or explicit distancing. A review can therefore tell us a great deal about the state of the relationship today.
The Beginnings
Under President Eduard Shevardnadze, who ruled from 1992 to 2003, Georgia was already turning increasingly to the West and especially the United States. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, and in particular since the centralisation of Russian foreign policy under President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has regarded the South Caucasus as significant for the stability of its North Caucasus republics and of Russia as a whole. This is associated with claims to a sphere of influence in the region. Tbilisi sought to escape that influence, and benefitted from Washington’s efforts to install its own liberal values in the post-Soviet states. That in turn drew criticism from Moscow, which felt Washington was encroaching into its own neighbourhood where it asserts overriding interests. That basic constellation is a defining factor in the region’s geopolitical configuration to this day.
NATO: Georgia Will Be Rewarded (2012)
NATO Envoy: 'Test is Being Passed by Georgia' | Civil.ge - Oct. 18, 2012 |
Parliamentary election has been a litmus test for Georgia’s democracy and “a very important part of this test has been passed”, James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, said in Tbilisi on October 18.
He said that NATO foreign ministers would likely recognize it when they meet in December, but NATO had yet to decide what might be further steps forward in relations with Georgia.
Appathurai, who met in Tbilisi with Secretary of National Security Council Giga Bokeria and acting Foreign Minister in outgoing government Grigol Vashadze on October 18, will also meet with incoming PM Bidzina Ivanishvili.
He said that ongoing democratic transfer of power following the elections “is the sign and a demonstration of Georgia becoming a normal country.” He also said that this change was also made possible because of reforms ongoing in Georgia over the years.
“The Secretary General communicated this both to President Saakashvili and Mr. Ivanishvili that elections were and are a litmus test and a very important part of this test has been passed,” Appathurai said while speaking at a news conference after meeting with Vashadze.
Georgia’s Dilemma: Former President Saakashvili Arrested in absentia | Sept. 23, 2014 |
Georgian Court Sentences Saakashvili In Absentia | RFERL - Jan. 8, 2018 |
Mikheil Saakashvili blasts corruption in Ukraine | Al Jazeera - Feb. 9, 2018 |
END OF UPDATE
Tel Aviv to Tbilisi: Israel's role in the Russia-Georgia war
United Europe: Twelve Stars and Spirit of Crusaders
The symbolism of the EU flag and why a true Christian would not tear it down and burn it
In 1950, the Council of Europe, which had been established for just one year, decided to adopt a flag expressing the spirit of European unity.
The commission reviewed many flag projects. The majority of them contained the image of the cross, as the cross, as a Christian symbol, was considered unifying for the European countries. The argument was also made that the Crusaders marched under flags with the cross on them and fought as a united Europe.
"A great sign appeared in the sky - a woman who was wearing the sun. The moon was at her feet and a crown with twelve stars on her head. " (Revelation, 12,1)
I am writing this to convince the reader of a resemblance that is completely vivid and impossible not to see: that is, the flag of the Council of Europe and the European Union is a symbol of St. Mary and, therefore, Christianity, and of the region and the world of the Christian values.
One way or another, it is a fact that the flag of the Council of Europe, and later of the European Union, represents pure Christian symbolism, following the rules of iconography. It should be noted that despite this fact, Turkey did not protest this flag design. It is doubtful that the Turks, distinguished for their excellent scholars of theology and Christianity, did not know what such a flag symbolized, yet they unconditionally supported the adoption of this flag by the Council of Europe, perhaps because Muslims and their Koran also acknowledge the existence of St. Mary as the mother of the "prophet" Isa (Jesus), and they revere her as much as Christians do.
I wanted to tell this story because, on July 5, 2021, in Georgia - a country of ancient Christianity on the path of democratic development - certain groups who present themselves as defenders of Christianity and Orthodoxy, tore down this Christian symbol from the pedestal and desecrated and burned it!
In general, desecrating any flag, even that of an enemy or an occupant (for example, of the Russian Federation), is unethical and unworthy behavior, but it is especially surprising when people who commit violence in the name of Christ at the same time desecrate a symbol representing Christian sanctities.
The long saga of Mikheil Saakashvili ...
NATO Summit of Bucharest - A Declaration of War - Part 2
NATO: Russia Stationing Ballistic Missiles On Our Borders!
Saakashvili became Ukrainian citizen and served under chocolate king Poroshenko as governor of Odessa before he fled the country for asylum in the Netherlands before moving back to Washington DC.
