Russia’s Deputy FM: West is Trying to Implement Maidan Scenario in Georgia
Mikhail Galuzin, Russia’s deputy Foreign Minister, said in an interview with Russia’s state-controlled TASS news agency that Moscow “doesn’t rule out” that the West’s goal is “to try to implement the Maidan scenario of a change of government” in Georgia.
In an interview habitually rife with accusations against the U.S. and the European Union and attacks on their policies toward Russia’s neighbors, he accused the West of putting “unscrupulous pressure” on “many sovereign states.”
Asked whether Russia was concerned that “the West is planning to destabilize the situation in Georgia and attempt a change of power, according to the scenario that has already been implemented in Ukraine,” Galuzin said: “Westerners decided to take on Georgia in connection with the consideration of the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” there, although in the U.S. and other countries of the world minority on this issue much stricter norms already exist or are being considered”.
The Russian official then accused the West of “hypocritical accusations” leveled against Georgia, such as “undermining of democracy, inconsistency with European and Euro-Atlantic values, as well as threats from Brussels and Washington to impose personal sanctions, block Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic perspective, deprive it of EU candidate status and suspend the visa-free regime for its citizens”.
He also lashed out at the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Estonia and Iceland, who in mid-May addressed protesters in Tbilisi against the Foreign Agents law, calling their actions “blatant interference in the internal affairs of an independent state” and asserting that “all these are repulsive examples of neo-colonial practices of imposing one’s will on countries whose sovereignty one is trying to limit.
Alleging that Russia is interested in “the stable democratic development of Georgia” and that “unlike the United States and the EU, we do not interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign States” Galuzin spoke of the “attempts by Westerners to inflame the situation in Georgia in the context of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October.” He further claimed: “We do not rule out that the aim is to try to implement the Maidan scenario of a change of government in the hope of creating another hotbed of tension near Russia’s borders.”
In the lengthy interview he also spoke about Ukraine, the relations with countries of the South Caucasus and Moldova, with the main line being that “the expansion conducted by the collective West in the post-Soviet space is nothing but a manifestation of its centuries-old colonial policy aimed at siphoning off resources, exploiting the population and expanding its influence in the region.”
He accused Brussels and Washington of “actively preparing Moldova for the role of another Ukraine, another instrument of its aggression.” Galuzin claimed that the West is trying to squeeze Russia out of the region and that history confirms “that any assistance from the West has never brought stability and security to the recipient states.”
Also Read:
- 17/05/2024- Russian Embassy in UK Defends Agents’ Law, Accuses London of Hypocrisy
- 12/02/2024 – Russia to Pursue “Normalization with Georgia” Despite Absence of Diplomatic Relations
- 20/05/2023 – Analysis | Rapprochement with Russia: what now?
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
