Lithuanian Member of the European Parliament Rasa Juknevičienė has published a letter on social media, marking the one-year anniversary of the continuous protests in Georgia since 28 November 2024 and highlighting the struggle of Mzia Amaglobeli.
“Today marks exactly one year since the Georgian uprising, when Georgian Dream stole the elections from them.
People are still in the streets. Several leaders of political parties are in prison. Journalist Mzia Amaglobeli is also in prison – she has become a symbol of the fight for freedom and a European Georgia.
In December, during the plenary session in Strasbourg, Mzia Amaglobeli and Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut will be awarded one of the most prestigious EU-wide honors – the Sakharov Prize.
The situation in Georgia regarding democracy, human rights, and media freedom is very serious. In reality, the process of state capture following the Russian model is advancing further. Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili has never wanted Georgia to join the European Union. Most of the population does want this, which is why the oligarch’s pocket party manipulated their will.
Only a year ago, Ivanishvili’s puppet prime minister openly declared that the pursuit of EU membership was being postponed. Now they are saying that they want a different kind of European Union – one like theirs. Orbán is the strongest supporter of this Georgian government.
There was a time when I thought such shifts could no longer happen in Lithuania, but now I am no longer certain. Mzia Amaglobeli’s words ‘Fight before it’s too late’ apply to us as well,” writes Rasa Juknevičienė.
On 28 November, one year passed since Irakli Kobakhidze’s well-known announcement about taking a pause on the EU integration path until 2028, which sparked large-scale and ongoing protests in nearly every city in Georgia. At 19:00 in Tbilisi, a protest march will be held from TSU’s first building toward the Parliament.