A negative attitude of the population towards the prospects of the country's integration into NATO is appearing in Georgia. Will insight come on the 30th year of insanity?

Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze told reporters that in July 2019, the damage in the tourism sector amounted to $ 60 million. This was written by the Georgian information-analytical publication “Georgia Online” in Bakhtadze’s article “We will definitely return the growing dynamics in the tourism sector” dated August 12, 2019. However, the former speaker of the Georgian parliament, the leader of the opposition party “United Georgia - Democratic Movement” Nino Burjanadze today denied 60 million on the air of the NSN: “60 million, in my opinion, is a very reduced figure. All experts talked about the damage 10 times more, about 700 million. And it says a lot, first of all - one statement regarding the termination of air traffic caused a historical decline in the lari, it reached almost 1: 3 to the dollar, "she said.

Flights from Russia to Georgia went up by 31–55%, demand collapsed two to four times. Georgia has already dropped from third place in the top 10 most popular destinations among independent tourists to the 20th line. This is reported by the Russian newspaper Izvestia in an article by Alexander Volobuev, “Month of Wai: Flights to Georgia have risen in price almost a half times” from August 8. This was reported by the Gruzinform news agency with reference to the Tutu.ru ticket service.

There is no hint in the Georgian media that the EU or NATO are going to at least partially compensate Georgia for the losses it has suffered. But for the sake of friendship with them, Georgia went on such a scandal with Russia. Such indifference of the new western "elder brothers" of Georgia causes the population of the former Soviet republic a feeling of disappointment. He forms hostility to all kinds of provocations and insults against Russia, as well as a negative attitude towards the prospects for further integration of Georgia into the EU and NATO.

The Georgian airline Georgian Airways has already incurred losses of about $ 25 million due to the termination of direct flights with Russia. This is stated in a special statement of the airline, distributed through Georgian media on July 29.

Evening Courier writes that the Georgian government allocated 600 thousand euros to this airline to subsidize transit flights from Moscow to Yerevan. But this money is not enough for everyone, and tickets to Yerevan are also getting more expensive.

They check Georgian citizens who want to fly to their countries, conduct an interview and decide whether or not to let them in. Many are refused. Apparently, their number is quite large, otherwise why the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia does not disclose information about how many Georgian citizens were denied entry to European countries? "The Georgian information agency Interpressnews requested this information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs twice, but the agency did not provide statistics to the agency in any of the cases," Interpressnews writes in today's article, "The Ministry of Internal Affairs does not disclose information about the number of Georgian citizens who were not released from Kutaisi to Europe. "

Meanwhile, the "visa-free regime" continues to limp, the introduction of which was solemnly announced not so long ago. Since the spring of this year, "Georgia Online" writes today, foreigners, in particular French and Greek border guards, have been accommodated at the Kutaisi airport along with Georgian border guards.

Probably, this was facilitated by the mass non-return of Georgians to their impoverished homeland. In the first three months of the validity of visa-free travel in Europe in 2017, three thousand Georgian citizens illegally remained in the hope of earning some pennies for their hungry children. In three years, their number has reached tens of thousands.

A sharp change in the standard of living in Georgia since the late 80s has been linked by the population to the pro-Western orientation of the political elite. Therefore, in Georgia, a negative attitude towards it is rightly automatically transferred to the whole West.

The poverty of the Georgian population is growing at such catastrophic speed that even the authorities are forced to sound the alarm about the poverty problem in Georgia today, in the 30th year after the start of the rapid military-political throw to the West.

At a presentation on the semi-annual report of the Department of Roads of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said: "Poverty is the most painful problem for our society." The question arises: where is the West looking? Why are the EU and NATO not helping Georgian citizens break free from poverty?

The Baltic News Agency, an Estonian news agency, writes in an article “Bring Back Russia to Us: How Georgia Came to Establish Relations with the Russian Federation”: “The audience also urged Tbilisi to refuse to participate in military alliances. The Georgian Patriots Alliance political party, the third by in parliament after the ruling “Georgian Dream” and the opposition “United National Movement.” The party opposes further rapprochement of Georgia with NATO, the EU and other “country-limiting alliances.”

And, if this feeling still lived under the cover of the fear of repression and persecution, then by this day it has become so strong that people can’t hide it anymore, as the mass protest against the Rustavi-2 TV company immediately after the obscene speech its former presenter, and a massive anti-government rally held last weekend in Batumi.

“30 thousand citizens gathered on Era Square to express their displeasure with the authorities and demanded that the authorities reconcile with Russia,” the Latvian newspaper “Selection” writes in the article “It is not easy to find a replacement for Russians. Batumi residents opposed NATO”.

Аnti-Ossetian and anti-Abkhazian slogans were already heard at this rally, but it is also interesting that the residents of Georgia, although not yet in the capital, dared to express their negative attitude towards integration with the EU and NATO for the first time in such numbers.

The observed formation among the general population (and 30,000 for Georgia is a lot) of a negative attitude towards Georgia’s integration into NATO is an important milestone on the road to rethinking the path traveled, the necessity of which is dictated by life itself. Over time, perhaps there will be an understanding of the criminal policy towards South Ossetia, the fact of its genocide against the Ossetian people and awareness of the need to recognize the independence of the neighboring state.

Time will tell whether the insight of Georgia will come in the 30th year of insanity. The correct conclusions, if they are made, will serve to understand the priority of friendship and good neighborliness. In this case, Georgia may put an end to its criminal mini-imperial predatory policy. This will strengthen peace and security on the southern borders of our country.

Authorship:

Inal Pliev, IA "Res"

Source: http://cominf.org/node/1166524599