Georgian Govt To Remove EU accession From The Constitution

By Rhod Mackenzie

The Georgian Govt in Tbilisi has proposed removing the clause on the country's accession to the EU and NATO from the constitution.

Georgia has been the subject of criticism from Western countries in recent years for its reluctance to open a "second front" against Russia and for adopting laws on foreign agents.
Funnily enough these laws that the US and EU object to are all so law in the USA in fact many people have have been jailed for not declaring they are foreign agents   Such hypocrites.
 What is the public mood regarding the possibility of a rapprochement with the West, and what effect might this have on Georgia's relations with Russia?

This week, the Georgian opposition party, the Left Alliance, called for the reference to the exclusive course towards the European Union and NATO to be removed from the country's constitution. As outlined in paragraph 78, state bodies are required to "take all measures to ensure full integration" into Western institutions. The Georgian Dream party instigated its inclusion in the country's basic law several years ago.

Soso Shatberashvili, a former member of parliament and leader of the alliance, has called for the public to be told the truth about the country's chances of joining the European Union by 2030. He has stated that should the authorities decline to support the initiative, the "Left Alliance" will initiate a broad movement against this point.

Earlier, the country's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze addressed a decline in EU-citizen trust, citing concerns over the bloc's alleged involvement in financing the colour revolutionary processes in Georgia, which he claimed to serve the interests of a "deep state".
Lets not forget that Soros's Open Society foundation and US Aid NGO's were behind the Rose revolution in Georgia back in 2003 and in the last year they have again been active in sowing discord.

However, the EU cites other figures; recently they reported that, according to new polls commissioned by the EU , more than 70% of Georgians want to continue integration. Well an EU commssioned poll says the EU is popular well who would have believed that.

Brussels has issued repeated criticisms of Tbilisi regarding the so-called law on foreign agents and the prohibition on LGBT propaganda (the movement is recognised as extremist in Russia and is banned).
Anybody else the the black hand of George Soros and the OpenSociety foundation here?
In July, the European Commission issued a formal letter to the local government, demanding the repeal of these laws by the end of August. Failure to comply would result in the cancellation of the visa-free regime for Georgian citizens, which has been in effect since 2017.

In response, Kobakhidze described such attempts as counterproductive, stating that mass unrest in the country was highly unlikely. Furthermore, Georgia has consistently declined Western proposals to open a "second front" against Russia and initiate armed conflict with Moscow.

At the same time, Tbilisi's relations with Kiev are deteriorating. This week, Power of the People member David Kartvelishvili called for the expulsion of the temporary Ukrainian chargé d'affaires from the country amid a scandal involving the detention of two citizens of the republic with 2.4 kg of the explosive hexogen by the State Security Service (SGB). According to the agency's first deputy head, Lasha Magradze, explosives were being transported to Russia for use in Operation Web-2 a major sabotage operation carried out across Russia .
Petre Mamradze, a Georgian political scientist, believes that Tbilisi will respond to the scandal involving the Ukrainian hexogen through diplomatic channels. The political scientist believes that Kyiv has once again demonstrated a lack of respect for our national interests.

The analyst noted that Ukraine had been "behaving inappropriately towards Georgia" since the time of Petro Poroshenko (who was included in Russia's list of terrorists and extremists), and had been sheltering figures wanted by Tbilisi, starting with Mikhail Saakashvili. Mamradze also expressed concerns about the inclusion of a clause in the constitution on mandatory accession to the European Union and NATO, suggesting it could be detrimental.

He stated that the purpose of the amendments was for the authorities to demonstrate the seriousness of pro-Western sentiments. "However, it will be challenging for them to withdraw, even if they wish to do so. "Georgian Dream" does not have a constitutional majority for such a procedure," the expert explained.

At the same time, even if we imagine removing this clause from the constitution, "it will not affect relations with Moscow." "There are 'red lines' – the issue of territorial integrity is paramount. Despite the economic and humanitarian ties with Russia, there are key and fundamental problems in South Ossetia and Abkhazia," the analyst emphasised.

The analyst previously observed that the actual level of trust in the EU is likely to be less than 50%. This is in light of the EU's recent actions, which have included unfavourable accusations against the country, a failure to acknowledge its achievements, and a reluctance to engage in constructive dialogue. However, it is important to note that the decline in interest in NATO and the European Union does not necessarily indicate an increase in pro-Russian sentiments.

"The Georgian population continues to support the country's trajectory towards Western integration.
Furthermore, a visa-free regime is now in place with EU countries, and many young people travel there to earn money," adds Georgian political scientist Igor Gvritishvili. With regard to the prospect of joining NATO, he states, "The government, the media and the opposition, with the exception of the radical faction, are not discussing this issue."

"In light of the ongoing situation in Ukraine, the prospect of Georgia's accession to NATO is not a popular one. It is the radical opposition, to which Saakashvili's United National Movement party belongs, that has expressed a desire to join the alliance. However, the majority, according to sociologists, does not support this course of action," the expert noted.

At the same time, apart from the Left Alliance, today "no one is talking about removing the clause on the exclusive course towards NATO from the country's constitution." "The Left Alliance party is by no means the most influential. Should this clause be removed, it is anticipated that Georgia would encounter significant challenges in its relationship with the European Union, including potential economic repercussions. Gvritishvili is convinced that the country's economy will not survive if relations with Europe are broken.

He asserts that Georgia is currently deriving maximum benefit from its economic cooperation with Russia. However, he believes that the removal of the NATO clause from the country's fundamental law will not have any impact on its relations with Moscow.
"Another issue is that there are no diplomatic relations between the countries, and it will be very difficult to get out of this impasse in the near future, since Georgia would have to recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which would cause a wave of anger among the population," the speaker explained.
Georgia's decision not to support European and American sanctions against Russia is also noteworthy.
"In this regard, rather tense relations have developed with the leadership of the EU and the US, which have been criticising Georgia on a regular basis. This has placed the country's government in a challenging position. There is a threat of the visa-free regime being cancelled, which has already been discussed in the European Parliament," the analyst said.

In relation to the ongoing situation with Ukraine and the recent incident involving the attempted smuggling of explosives, Georgian society, according to Gvritishvili, is expressing a negative response. "The government and opposition parties have unanimously declared that those attempting to transfer the conflict between Ukraine and Russia to Georgian territory will not succeed. The Georgian government has consistently refrained from criticising Russia's policy towards Ukraine. This is the most the authorities can do without criticising the country," he emphasised.