We aspire to be part of the European Union. We envision a Georgia without Russia, without Russian oligarchs."
Our appeal to the U.S. is to think about partnership and not take counterproductive steps,
The protests are not merely about a Russian law,
It's our point of view that the Georgian government needs to change course from the one that it's on,
As an American, I believe in freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press,
They wanted me to sign some things about what happened,
At that point, I guess the government was trying to dispel the protests, and we were kind of locked in an area behind parliament and funneled into a street,
The values of freedom and democracy are there within the people, when you're walking down the street, if you're in some local bar, or at some local protest,
We need to think about the other Georgians here that have been fighting for a month now, and will continue to fight,
Russia’s war in Ukraine is not about Ukraine only. Putin is an idealogue who wants to shatter the rules-based order, and he has a long-term vision, which we now witness in Georgia,
The law would serve Russian interests who want to see Georgia move away from Western allies,
It will put the West on the defensive and further erode democracy. This is the result of Western appeasement,
The law will allow them to start a witch hunt against all who do not share their position and oligarchic way of governance,
Make no mistake: if Russia via its proxies win in Georgia, next on Putin’s authoritarian menu are Moldova and the Balkans,
It serves as a powerful tool for the government to crack down on civil liberties and freedom of speech,
We will win this fight and get Georgia back on its EU and NATO path, but it will be a long and difficult fight,
EU member countries are very clear that if this law is adopted it will be a serious obstacle for Georgia in its European perspective,
The implication would be that they might freeze our assets.”
We’re deeply troubled by Georgia’s Kremlin-style foreign agents legislation,
If we don’t register, we will probably cease to exist.”