Ukraine Euromaidan Solidarity Action, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2014
A few hours after the first reports of fatalities during violent clashes in Ukraine surfaced, some Georgians took to Facebook to organise a small solidarity rally in support of Euromaidan protestors outside the site of the former parliament building in Tbilisi. The demonstration follows similar events held last year (See here and here).
Democracy and Freedom Watch carries a report on the latest action.
Students, journalists, politicians, artists, singers and others filled the square in front of the building to express their protest against the actions of the Ukrainian government.
They carried posters with messages like “Stop dictatorship!”, “We Support Ukraine” and “Yanukovych, stop shooting”. There were some who offered participants to paint the Ukrainian flag on their faces. Others brought Ukrainian and EU flags and yellow and blue balloons.
Ukraine Euromaidan Solidarity Action, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2014
Earlier the same day, the Georgian government also issued a statement.
“We are watching with alarm developments in our friendly and partner country, Ukraine,” PM Irakli Garibashvili said in a written statement. “We are deeply concerned that developments in the streets of Kiev resulted in casualties. We express our deep sorrow over this fact.”
“We condemn any violence and hope that the Ukrainian government and the society as a whole will show wisdom and will not allow further violent developments. We believe that our Ukrainian friends are capable of solving political issues pertinent to the country’s democratic development through peaceful negotiations,”
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Tbilisi “respects each and every country’s right to choose its foreign policy priorities, but it is necessary to protect the principle of freedom of expression and assembly.”
“The Georgian Foreign Ministry calls on the Ukrainian government and participants of the demonstration to refrain from use of force and expresses hope that Ukraine, which is Georgia’s traditionally friendly country… will be able to resolve the situation through dialogue,” reads the statement.
“We sincerely wish to see Ukraine in future, together with Georgia, in a large European family, as the country sharing common European values,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.
Ukraine Euromaidan Solidarity Action, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2014
The former party or power was more outspoken.
Expressing concern over “dramatic developments” in Kiev, the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party said in a statement: “The main reason behind escalating violence is pressure exerted by Russia on Ukraine ahead of the Vilnius Summit aimed at deterring Kiev from signing the Association Agreement with the European Union.”
UNM also said that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych also shares responsibility for these developments because of his “ignorance of opinion of the hundreds of thousands of the Ukrainian citizens and inability to engage in dialogue.” UNM also condemned newly passed laws limiting the right to protest in Ukraine.
“Together with the international community, it is our duty to express full solidarity to the Ukrainian people’s aspiration towards the family of European nations founded on freedom, rule of law and human rights. Georgia should do its utmost to resist any attempt of dragging Ukraine into Putin’s Eurasian Union. Ukraine’s freedom is our freedom,” said UNM, which is a partner party of the Ukrainian opposition UDAR party, led by Vitaly Klitschko.
Incidentally, another link between the violence in Ukraine and the South Caucasus could be found in neighbouring Armenia where reports emerged that the first casualty in the most recent unrest in Kiev was an ethnic Armenian.
Ukrainian media have revealed the name of a man who was shot dead in protests in Kiev last night, suggesting that he is an ethnic Armenian.
The Ukrainskaya Pravda portal cites its sources as saying that 20-year-old Sergey Nigoyan from Dnepropetrovsk was an active participant of Euromaidan, the protests that began in Kiev’s Nezalezhnaya Square in late November in response to the Ukrainian government’s refusal to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union.
According to the news portal, Nigoyan was fatally wounded in the neck and in the head. The young man is presented as one of “Euromaidan guards” who has been with protesters in the square since December 8.
Ironically, like Ukraine, Armenia also buckled under alleged Russian pressure to reject an Association Agreement with the European Union in favour of joining the Moscow-led Eurasian Union. Radio Free Europe carries a profile of the dead protestor.
Ukraine Euromaidan Solidarity Action, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik Krikorian 2014
