this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2024
81 points (100.0% liked)

Europe

1388 readers
565 users here now

News and information from Europe ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in !yurop@lemm.ee. (They're cool, you should subscribe there too!)
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)

(This list may get expanded when necessary.)

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @federalreverse@feddit.org, @poVoq@slrpnk.net, or @anzo@programming.dev.

founded 3 months ago
MODERATORS
 

Saturday's vote will pit an unprecedented alliance of pro-Western opposition forces against the ruling Georgian Dream party, accused by Brussels of shifting towards authoritarianism and derailing EU candidate Tbilisi from its European path.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators, waving EU and Georgian flags and holding banners that read "Georgia chooses the European Union" gathered at Tbilisi's central Freedom Square after marching towards the venue from five different locations

[...]

Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili -- at loggerheads with the government -- joined the rally, which she said "shows that Georgia has already won and will reintegrate with Europe".

[...]

Analysts have warned of the risk of turmoil if Georgian Dream attempts to hold onto power regardless of the vote's outcome.

In power since 2012, the party initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda, but over the last two years has reversed course and been accused of moving closer to Moscow.

Bids for membership of the EU and NATO are enshrined in Georgia's constitution and supported by some 80 percent of the population, according to multiple opinion polls commissioned by groups including the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute.

top 5 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[โ€“] Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 11 points 18 hours ago

Best wishes for Georgia and those making the effort to move people in the right direction.

[โ€“] Vincent@feddit.nl 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

What I don't get is how so many Georgians have turned up repeatedly to protest the moves away from the EU by the government, and yet Georgian Dream still get voted on by so many. Any Georgians around who can provide some context? Yet another instance of rural vs. urban populace?

[โ€“] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 0 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

Demonstrations don't win elections. Even if they'd be 40% of all voters and be all on the street, they'd still not be enough, despite being a massive force to look at. So, ultimately, I don't think this is going to change anything at this point. They'd need more than just the odd large protest, unfortunately.

[โ€“] Vincent@feddit.nl 2 points 4 hours ago

Not by themselves, but they're generally indicative of a wider movement, i.e. for every person who came out to demonstrate, there are a few that agree, but not enough to actually go out there. And as the sibling comment mentions, moving closer to the EU also has wide support with a large part of the population according to polls. Is it just something that people disagree on with Georgian Dream, but not enough to not vote for them?

[โ€“] angrystego@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

But the article mentions that according to polls, membership of the EU and NATO are supported by about 80 percent of the population. That should be enough, right?