With media coverage still dominated by the Ukraine war, you might assume that Vladimir Putins machinations in eastern Europe are focused solely on Ukraine. And you might be right. After all, why would Russias president need to get involved in states where homegrown politicians seem more than prepared to do his work for him?
This is the situation currently unfolding in Georgia. The countrys ruling political coalition, Kartuli Otsneba (Georgian Dream), is pursuing a policy of religious nationalism and social conservatism that brings Georgia in step with the social policies of Putin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
More secular Georgians, and those who favour closer relations with the EU and Nato, fear a creeping Russification of society. These fears were crystallised when the government tried to pass the so-called foreign agents law in March 2023, sparking widespread protest on the streets of the countrys capital, Tbilisi.
The proposed legislation was modelled on a Russian law designed to limit the amount of funding that NGOs and other externally funded organisations could accept. Opposition to this measure was fuelled by a fear that its passing would enable the Georgian government to outlaw cultural and social projects deemed incompatible with Georgian values. This would potentially lead to increased harassment of anyone from the LGBTQ+ community to single parents to vegans and vegetarians.
It was also widely believed that other elements of Russian legislation would follow if this first law was enacted. Taken aback by the strength of public feeling, the bill was withdrawn in May 2023. But suspicions that Russia is influencing the actions of a number of Georgian politicians have remained.
The crackdown on culture began when Thea Tsukuliani was named minister of culture, sport and youth in March 2021. Previously, Tsukuliani had been the minister of justice and not shown any apparent interest in Georgian history and culture.
Upon her appointment, Tsukuliani announced that instead of being based in the usual ministry office, she was going to install herself in a suite at the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi. She reportedly had her eye on a wing of the museum that had recently been reopened as the natural history gallery.
This collection had not been publicly available for some years, so the curatorial staff fought the suggestion that it would be closed again almost immediately. Instead, Tsukuliani took the same suite on another floor, thereby dispossessing the National Geographic team who had signed a contract for that space.
In this way, I was made aware of the situation in Georgia long before it gained wider attention. I received a message from a colleague telling me that a project I was running with the Georgian National Museum could no longer host educational events for schoolchildren, as the room we had just refurbished had become an emergency office for National Geographic staff.
Then, on May 24 2022, the cultural purge began and 22 staff members were fired. The 22 had one thing in common: they had expressed disquiet about the apparent politicisation of Georgian cultural heritage, and argued that archaeology and related disciplines should not be controlled by Georgian Dream.
Those who were dismissed were followed by waves of their colleagues administrators and accountants were targeted as well as researchers, archaeologists and curatorial staff. By September 2022, more than 70 members of staff at the Georgian National Museum had lost their positions. Anyone who dared to speak up in solidarity was informed they were failing in their work duties and dismissed with immediate effect.
This quickly began to affect international research partners. For example, archaeologists arrived in Georgia to find there were no permits for excavation, as the staff of the issuing body had also been reorganised. Within a few months, the threat had spread to other cultural professionals, such as those in the theatre and film industries.
The sacked museum staff unionised and captured the attention of the national media. In August 2022, when the first cases for wrongful dismissal came to court, the Ministry of Culture was deemed to have fired staff unlawfully from the Georgian National Museum and other galleries and museums.
Good news, you might think but you would be wrong. In each case so far, the state has been told to pay the employee several months wages in compensation. But the Ministry of Culture has not been required to reinstate the worker to their former role, meaning that generations of institutional and specialist knowledge has been lost.
Many octogenarians had stayed on long beyond retirement to bridge the gap of the lost generations who fled post-communist Georgia for the US or Europe. They had been working for less than 50 a month to pass on their knowledge to a new generation: the born frees who have never experienced communism.
The older group had, over the past decade, started to believe they could entrust their work to this new generation. But it was the oldest and youngest who appeared to be especially targeted by this purge.
Georgians will head to the polls again in November 2024 to elect a new government. Georgian Dream, which has been leading a governing coalition since 2012, is seeking to extend its mandate.
Colleagues of mine who are still in place in the Georgian National Museum are torn between hope that their ordeal will soon be over, and despondency that Georgian Dream appears on track to remain in power. If it wins again, the feeling in Georgia is that nothing will hold back the creeping Russification of Georgian society that this cultural censorship is facilitating.
Right now, Georgian academics, writers, museum staff and filmmakers seem united in agreeing that their best hope lies in a Ukrainian victory that weakens Russia and, as a result, dilutes its stranglehold on the Georgian ruling class.
Go here to see the original:
- EU and Ukraine explore special tribunal for Putin and war officials - Euronews - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Do Russians Believe Putin's Propaganda? | TIME - TIME - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Opinion | Putins Russia throws a lifeline to North Korea - The Washington Post - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- U.S. told Russia that Crocus City Hall was possible target of attack - The Washington Post - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Escaping Putin's War Machine - Reveal - Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin ally Patrushev says NATO is helping attacks on Russia from Ukraine - Reuters - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Pine nuts: Mr. Putin, draw down that weapon - Sierra Sun - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- What's behind Putin's attempts to link Ukraine to Moscow terror attack? - Voice of America - VOA News - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Ukraine tells Trump to emulate Reagan as Putin readies major spring offensive - POLITICO Europe - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- 'Ein Schock fr Putin': Ukraine Bombs Three Russian Air Bases, Then Vows To Send Its Drones Further Into Russia - The New York Sun - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- France's Macron Tries to Jolt Europe Into Taking Tougher Approach With Putin - WSJ - The Wall Street Journal - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- How Putin's Relationship With Islam Works - The American Conservative - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Ukraine embraces far-right Russian 'bad guy' to take the battle to Putin - POLITICO Europe - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Will Keen on Playing Vladimir Putin in Patriots on Broadway: The Sign of a Great Liar Is the Ability to Lie to Oneself - Variety - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Kim Jong Uns correspondence with Putin shoots up amid cooperation over Ukraine - NK News - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Cathy Young on Putin's American Fans - Reason - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin regime cracks down on Central Asian immigrants The Militant - The Militant - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin, Russia and what might have been | Daily Gate City - Keokuk, Iowa | mississippivalleypublishing.com - Mississippi Valley Publishing - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Do Russians Believe Putin's Propaganda? - AOL - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin and the Superiority Myth - Center for European Policy Analysis - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Vladimir Putin Pushes Russia To Make Consoles To Compete With PlayStation And Xbox - Kotaku - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Reality is chipping away at Putinism - The New Statesman - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin Is No Ally In the War on Terror in 2024 - 19FortyFive - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Opinion | Joe Lieberman and Gordon Humphrey: How to counter Putin's lies - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Opinion | I am proud to have spoken out against Putin's crimes in Ukraine - The Washington Post - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Russia election: Putin declared winner of race that was never in doubt - The Associated Press - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Exclusive: Putin to visit China in May - Reuters - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin Urges Russians to Unite on Ukraine War - The New York Times - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin Aide on 'Sham' Election Attacks: 'Not Going to Justify Ourselves' - Newsweek - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- West condemns 'sick' Putin's rigged election win as Xi sends congrats to Moscow - POLITICO Europe - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- What's Next After Putin's Win, and Why U.S. Home Prices May Start to Drop - The New York Times - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin planning buffer zone around border with Ukraine - The Hill - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- With the election behind him, Putin says Russia aims to set up a buffer zone inside Ukraine - The Associated Press - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Vladimir Putin and Ebrahim Raisito strengthen Russian-Iranian relations - The Jerusalem Post - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putins Orchestrated Election Leaves Russians With No Other Choices - The New York Times - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin speaks Navalny's name for first time, claims he agreed to prisoner exchange - POLITICO Europe - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- How Xi and Putin took parallel paths to become life rulers - Business Insider - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- The West's New Approach Can Save Georgia From Putin - Newsweek - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin had to contrive a landslide because he knows cracks are showing in Russian society - The Guardian - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Basking in his Russian election win, Putin talks about political nemesis Alexei Navalny's 'sad' death for the first time - CNBC - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin Isn't Hitler, He's Mussoliniand Ukraine Is His Abyssinia - Modern War Institute - West Point - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Analysis: Is the GLSDB One of Nuland's Promised 'Nice Surprises' for Putin? - Kyiv Post - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Secret Putin palace discovered with yachts, personal waterfall: report - Business Insider - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin challenger submits 105000 signatures backing his election campaign - POLITICO Europe - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russia's Putin blames Ukraine for crash of POW's plane and pledges to make investigation public - The Associated Press - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russia's war on Ukraine a 'huge issue' for EU as Putin's ambitions are 'much more far-reaching' - FRANCE 24 English - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin to visit Turkey in February, Kremlin says - Yahoo News - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin to visit NATO member Turkiye on 12 February - Middle East Monitor - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin Officially Registered For Russian Presidential Election Amid Suppression Of Opposition - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin vs the West: At War TV review world leaders offer candid reflections in BBC documentary - Financial Times - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- An unlikely challenger to Putin brings a rare show of defiance, creating a dilemma for the Kremlin - The Associated Press - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Analysis: China's rising star visits U.S. over warming Putin-Kim ties - Nikkei Asia - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Kremlin denies report Putin reached out to the US about ending Ukraine war - Business Insider - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Belarusian President complains to Putin that Ukraine and Baltic countries "seek better life abroad" video - Yahoo News - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin Vs the West: At War review did Liz Truss really storm out of her own office? - The Guardian - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- U.S. Ally Could Hand Biden New Trump Card for Dealing with Putin - Newsweek - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin says earns $175K, owns couple of apartments and a parking spot - Business Insider - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Kremlin denies report that Putin reaching out to US, might drop key demands on Ukraine - Reuters.com - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- In Ukraine and Europe, a concern: Has Putin outlasted the US? - The Christian Science Monitor - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russian Election Authorities Pick Pro-War Symbol, Putins Favorite Slogan for Presidential Campaign Promo - The Moscow Times - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russians who want rid of Putin pin election hopes on anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin - The Guardian - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Secret Putin Residence Discovered Near Finland Dossier Center - The Moscow Times - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Vladimir Putin Accuses Kyiv Of Trying To Provoke Russia After 2 Years Of Shelling Ukraine - HuffPost UK - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russian Anti-War Candidacy Bid An Unexpected Obstacle In Kremlin's Effort To Smoothly Reinstall Putin - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russias anti-war presidential candidate submits bid to run against Putin - Semafor - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russian Officials Further Stack Deck in Favor of Putin's Reelection - Newsweek - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Kremlin Hopes Armenia Joining ICC Will Not Affect Relations - The Moscow Times - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- In shadow of Trump, Putin and Orbn, EU struggles to get its act together on Ukraine - POLITICO Europe - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin registered as fourth candidate in Russian presidential election - Yahoo News - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Kyiv 'strikes airfield' in occupied Crimea as Putin prepares to visit Turkey - The Independent - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Vladimir Putin is trying to entice foreign nationals with the offer of Russian citizenship to help him fight against Ukraine - Fortune - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin's 'peace' is a partitioned Ukraine - The Spectator - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Russia's War on Woke: Putin Is Trying to Unite the Far Right and Undermine the West - Foreign Affairs Magazine - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin's Drive to Rewrite History Snares a Retired Lithuanian Judge - The New York Times - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin makes passing Ukraine reference in New Year's Eve address - Reuters - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin Vows to Keep Up Bombardment After a Russian City Is Hit - The New York Times - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin lauds Russian unity in his New Year's address - POLITICO - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Zelenskiy speaks of war, Putin makes passing reference in contrasting New Year speeches - Reuters - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin Says He Wants Peace in Ukraine But on Russia's Own Terms - Bloomberg - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- 'Seething' Putin hammers Ukraine with massive missile and drone attacks - POLITICO Europe - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]