But, that’s the fact- This is as near an exact duplicate to the Western backed Ukraine Maidan as you can get. I’m going to omit the colourful descriptions, you can enjoy that for yourself at the link provided 😉
The Economist
https://archive.ph/injkm#selection-977.0-977.59
Over the past few days similar events have been playing out in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have poured into the streets every night. Police have beaten and tear-gassed protestors, who have surrounded the parliament building and subjected it to a barrage of fireworks. “Our future is being stolen from us,” said 29-year-old Michael Meskhi, gesturing towards the crowd, many wearing gas masks. “We all want the same thing: Europe, not Russia.”
With an abundance of gas masks and giant fireworks being aimed as weapons- these peaceful “pro- democracy” protests carry on
The authorities still seem confident, and observers say there is little chance of a Maidan-style collapse
On October 26th GD claimed to have won another election. The opposition rejected the results immediately, but protests were small and evidence of gross fraud was lacking, muting the international reaction
As reports of voter intimidation and ballot irregularities trickled in, it “became clear that the elections were stolen”,
Actual evidence of “gross fraud” was lacking, then suddenly, NGO originating reports of voter intimidation and ballot irregularities be de rigeur
The trigger has been the government’s apparent decision to turn away from the West. On November 28th the European Parliament passed a resolution declaring that the elections had been “neither free nor fair”, and called for new ones.
America, in turn, suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia. The Georgian move represents a deliberate break with the West, says Kornely Kakachia, head of the Georgian Institute of Politics, a think-tank in Tbilisi: “[Georgian Dream] no longer wants the EU’s conditionality. Instead they aim to consolidate power and lean towards illiberal states like Russia, China or Iran.” Mr Ivanishvili has tried to frighten Georgians by invoking the Ukrainian example, warning that a move towards the West would provoke Russia to attack the country again, as it did in 2008.
The protests are unlikely to simply dissipate, but they lack a clear leader. The only consolidating figure is Salome Zourabichvili, the president, whose powers are largely ceremonial. She has come out on the side of the protesters. Mr Ivanishvili wants to replace her with Mikheil Kavelashvili, a footballer, when her term expires later this month. But on November 30th Ms Zourabichvili said she would not step down unless new parliamentary elections were held; the next president is to be chosen by parliament, but she says the current one is illegitimate.
Though Georgia is in full-blown crisis, within the state itself defections have so far been confined to the resignations of several ambassadors and mid-ranking officials. There are no signs of disloyalty among the police, and the NATO-trained army has stayed in its barracks.
and the NATO-trained army has stayed in its barracks
I quoted that specifically because Georgia has an interesting history with it’s NATO trained army- One that connects it directly to Syria & ISIS in Syria. If the NATO trained army steps out of it's barracks- look for irregular army tactics- terrorism.