A group of youngsters chats sitting on the flower bed wall, a skateboarder darts among tourists taking photos, and grandparents walk their grandchildren: Tbilisi appears surprisingly calm and peaceful. Freedom Square has no trace of what happened a few days ago, yet the Caucasian country was on the front pages of many international newspapers. The feeling is that people feel victorious because they think they have won the battle, although there are among them those who remain alert.
Let's take a step back: from March 7 to March 9, clashes and street demonstrations took place in Georgia's capital because of the passage of a bill described by some as "Russian." The draft, strongly desired by the ruling majority party 'Georgian Dream,' would require media financed more than 20 percent by foreign capital to be registered as "foreign agents" at the Ministry of Justice. According to protesters, it would have mirrored the law passed in Russia in 2012 that was later used to suppress NGOs and the media, thus fearing restrictions on some press organs and the third sector, as well as repercussions on the independence of information in general.
With immediate effect, the streets of Tbilisi filled with people in protest, amid chants of the national anthem and European flags. Participation was varied, but the strong prevalence of young and very young people stood out, so much so that for many of them this was the first demonstration they had taken part in.
After at least three days of clashes, often violent and involving arrests, the law was withdrawn by popular vote. The government did not expect such large demonstrations, and perhaps many Georgians did not expect them either, as they were suddenly confronted with the change brought about by their children, in repudiation of regimes and singing of freedom. In fact, in the square, in front of the Parliament, were those people born in independent Georgia who do not know what it means to live in the Soviet Union. Those people know little about Russia, which is why any law, connection, and influence from the latter is something that does not belong to them, that they do not understand, and that they apparently do not want to have.
"Everything that threatens freedom and democracy must be fought," a 19-year-old Georgian girl participating in the procession, Nina, tells me.
Most of the young people I run into during the demonstration on the 8th of March and with whom I am able to talk are convinced that freedom is not to be found in either the Soviet Union or Russia, so they turn to the West. The European Union seems like a good choice, a solution, or at least something positive in their eyes, although not all of them like or agree with the totality of what goes on within it. "Do we have any other choice?" asks Nina. The answer seems implicit. Georgia has a troubled past and has experienced numerous occupations and invasions during its centuries of history, very often facing them alone; its openness to the EU signals a change of pace that stems from its perception as a reliable and safe partner with common roots and value affinities.
Of course, there are ups and downs, as in any reality: different souls live within the country and the political divide is highly polarized. In addition, many people still have bitterness, as well as a feeling of abandonment, alive following the events of 2008. In any case, the numbers speak for themselves and, according to several polls, more than half of the country wants to join the EU, regardless. It should be noted, however, that the most fervent pro-Europeans are the younger generations, who already feel they belong there, although the road to the blue dream with yellow stars still seems a long one, so much so that government actions such as the one on 'foreign agents' can easily derail it, already being precariously balanced by the peculiar relationship with European institutions.
However, the driving determination of the younger generation is not to be underestimated and could write a future we cannot imagine. Let’s stay and watch.
Sofia Camaglia
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