{"id":1466,"date":"2024-10-30T16:42:58","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T16:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/?p=1466"},"modified":"2025-09-14T20:28:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T20:28:45","slug":"georgias-deciding-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/?p=1466","title":{"rendered":"Georgia’s Deciding Moments"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Arvid Bertilsson<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Russia\u2019s vise is tightening around Eastern Europe. In Moldova’s recent elections, evidence emerged of the Kremlin’s efforts to purchase up to 300,000 votes, a cynic manoeuvre that preceded a narrow victory for the democratic bloc on the vote on constitutional reform. For an excellent review of the Moldovan election, see our friend Oxana\u2019s article from PAS-Youth. As we wait for the outcome of the Moldovan presidential election in the beginning of this november, an equally critical situation is unfolding in Georgia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Georgia\u2019s president, Salome Zourabichvili, announced Sunday that she does not recognize the results of the weekend\u2019s parliamentary vote, which election officials claim was won by the ruling party Georgian Dream. The Central Election Commission claimed that GD secured around 55% of the vote. However, mounting evidence of widespread cheating\u2014ranging from double voting to blatant vote-buying and voter intimidation\u2014paints a starkly different picture. Georgian Dream, whose ties to Moscow are hardly hidden, has shamelessly modelled its tactics on Russian repression, pushing laws to suppress free speech and punish dissent. Georgia\u2019s EU membership process has been suspended indefinitely after the GD government passed the\u00a0 \u201cforeign influence law\u201d in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

European electoral observers also condemned the election process, describing it as taking place in a \u201cdeeply divisive\u201d environment marked by intimidation, physical violence, and widespread corruption. Antonio L\u00f3pez-Ist\u00fariz White, leading the European Parliament\u2019s monitoring delegation, noted that Georgian Dream\u2019s campaign was riddled with anti-Western and hostile rhetoric, promoting Russian disinformation, manipulation, and conspiracy theories. Orb\u00e1n\u2019s support continues to raise serious concerns. While Europe fights for democratic integrity, Orban is handing Moscow another foothold, showing just how far he\u2019ll go to appease the Kremlin.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

As students, we stand in unwavering solidarity with the studentry and youth in Georgia who are risking everything to resist this injustice. The Georgian student movement is committed to the future of its country – with a clear goal: to lead Georgia into the European Union as a fully-fledged member and to permanently free itself from Russia’s sphere of influence. Their demands for human rights, democracy and the rule of law reflect the growing desire for change that extends far into Georgian society. Currently, there are protests happening that calls for the annulment of this sham election, It is clear that many young people in Georgia want to bring the country closer to Europe. Georgia, one of the world\u2019s oldest Christian nations, is a place where the values that inspire our love for freedom and human dignity first took root. Europe must act with conviction – it must not turn away as Putin\u2019s loyalists try to rip Georgia\u2019s future from its people\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n\n

Georgia\u2019s future is still ahead of it. In the EU, the Georgian studentry would deservedly benefit from a modern educational system, aligned with European standards, and access to global research institutions and international exchanges, such of Erasmus+. Although the foreign agents law makes it difficult, we encourage the EU to support programs aimed at bolstering civil society in Georgia, particularly through funding initiatives that empower student movements and youth organisations.<\/p>\n\n

Georgia\u2019s journey toward EU membership is a long-term endeavour, yet the resilience and dedication of its youth inspire great hope. We stand with them, knowing that their future is deeply interwoven with our shared future in Europe.<\/p>\n\n

Arvid Bertilsson<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Chairman of CREAS<\/em><\/p>\n\n

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By Arvid Bertilsson Russia\u2019s vise is tightening around Eastern Europe. In Moldova’s recent elections, evidence emerged of the Kremlin’s efforts to purchase up to 300,000 votes, a cynic manoeuvre that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1466"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1755,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466\/revisions\/1755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}