Yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flags flutter in the spring breeze around Tbilisi, a symbol of Georgians' commiseration with the people of a fellow former Soviet state facing new incursions by Moscow.
Events in Ukraine's stand-off with Russia have dominated the airwaves and stirred political debate in the tiny Caucasus country that fought -- and lost -- its own war with Moscow in 2008.
"We hold daily rallies not only to show solidarity towards Ukraine. What happens there is a national security issue for Georgia," said Andro Barnov, a political activist and organiser of mass demonstrations across Georgia.
Pro-Moscow forces took control of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula after street protests brought down Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych last month. Days later the regional government announced a referendum to ask Crimeans if they want to become part of Russia.
The Russian incursion brought back memories from six years ago, when tensions between Tbilisi and Moscow over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia exploded into a brutal five-day war that saw Russian troops sweep into Georgia.
In the wake of the conflict, the Kremlin recognised both South Ossetia and another separatist territory, Abkhazia, as independent countries and stationed thousands of troops there in what Tbilisi and its Western allies decry as a de-facto occupation.
With memories of the conflict still raw, many Georgians say events in Ukraine highlight how vulnerable all former Soviet countries could be in the face of renewed territorial ambitions from an emboldened Russia.
"Today, the fate of Georgia is being decided in Ukraine," Barnov, who heads a pro-European think tank, told AFP.
"We may not be able to resist Russia militarily, but no weapons can help the Kremlin against our solidarity and the unity of our societies," he said.
Many in Georgia are worried that Moscow's land grab in Crimea will lead President Vladimir Putin to try to strengthen the Kremlin's grip on its former Soviet subjects, threatening not only Georgia's bid to join the European Union and NATO, but its very sovereignty.
- Failure to punish Russia -
Prime-time talk shows and newscasts on Georgian TV are saturated with coverage of Ukraine and politicians of all stripes are competing to show solidarity with Kiev.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili told AFP in an interview that the failure of the international community to punish Russia for its 2008 invasion of Georgia has let Moscow think it can get away with seizing Ukraine's Crimea region.
"The fact that the 2008 scenario used by Russia in Georgia -- when a sovereign state's territories were seized with military force -- is now being employed again in 2014 against another country proves that in the last six years both we and our partners have failed to stand up to Russia," Margvelashvili said.
In a letter to Western leaders, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said "the international community must respond immediately to these processes and compel Russia to give up its forceful actions.
"Otherwise, we may end up facing yet another wave of aggression and occupation, which Georgia has experienced firsthand," said Gribashvili.
Georgia's parliament meanwhile has passed a bipartisan resolution calling on the international community to "defend the Ukrainian people from Russian aggression, to avoid armed conflict and achieve the de-occupation of Georgia".
But while the issue of Ukraine has stirred a rare consensus among Tbilisi's usually squabbling politicians, some have started demanding action and not just words from the current leadership.
Giga Bokeria, a former national security adviser to the fervently pro-Western ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, criticised the resolution for "refusing to call on the West to impose sanctions against the Kremlin".
Saakashvili, who has visited Kiev in recent weeks to advise Ukraine's interim leadership, has launched an online petition "for a united Ukraine".
"Think of the ramifications if borders across the continent were to revert to ethnic lines. If there are no longer any rules, a spiralling cycle of violence and destruction is inevitable," he wrote last week in a Washington Post op-ed.
"Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova should be put on fast-track accession to the European Union and granted membership action plans for NATO to demonstrate that Russia cannot seize its ends through illegal means," he wrote.
Yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flags flutter in the spring breeze around Tbilisi, a symbol of Georgians’ commiseration with the people of a fellow former Soviet state facing new incursions by Moscow.
Events in Ukraine’s stand-off with Russia have dominated the airwaves and stirred political debate in the tiny Caucasus country that fought — and lost — its own war with Moscow in 2008.
“We hold daily rallies not only to show solidarity towards Ukraine. What happens there is a national security issue for Georgia,” said Andro Barnov, a political activist and organiser of mass demonstrations across Georgia.
Pro-Moscow forces took control of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula after street protests brought down Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych last month. Days later the regional government announced a referendum to ask Crimeans if they want to become part of Russia.
The Russian incursion brought back memories from six years ago, when tensions between Tbilisi and Moscow over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia exploded into a brutal five-day war that saw Russian troops sweep into Georgia.
In the wake of the conflict, the Kremlin recognised both South Ossetia and another separatist territory, Abkhazia, as independent countries and stationed thousands of troops there in what Tbilisi and its Western allies decry as a de-facto occupation.
With memories of the conflict still raw, many Georgians say events in Ukraine highlight how vulnerable all former Soviet countries could be in the face of renewed territorial ambitions from an emboldened Russia.
“Today, the fate of Georgia is being decided in Ukraine,” Barnov, who heads a pro-European think tank, told AFP.
“We may not be able to resist Russia militarily, but no weapons can help the Kremlin against our solidarity and the unity of our societies,” he said.
Many in Georgia are worried that Moscow’s land grab in Crimea will lead President Vladimir Putin to try to strengthen the Kremlin’s grip on its former Soviet subjects, threatening not only Georgia’s bid to join the European Union and NATO, but its very sovereignty.
– Failure to punish Russia –
Prime-time talk shows and newscasts on Georgian TV are saturated with coverage of Ukraine and politicians of all stripes are competing to show solidarity with Kiev.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili told AFP in an interview that the failure of the international community to punish Russia for its 2008 invasion of Georgia has let Moscow think it can get away with seizing Ukraine’s Crimea region.
“The fact that the 2008 scenario used by Russia in Georgia — when a sovereign state’s territories were seized with military force — is now being employed again in 2014 against another country proves that in the last six years both we and our partners have failed to stand up to Russia,” Margvelashvili said.
In a letter to Western leaders, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said “the international community must respond immediately to these processes and compel Russia to give up its forceful actions.
“Otherwise, we may end up facing yet another wave of aggression and occupation, which Georgia has experienced firsthand,” said Gribashvili.
Georgia’s parliament meanwhile has passed a bipartisan resolution calling on the international community to “defend the Ukrainian people from Russian aggression, to avoid armed conflict and achieve the de-occupation of Georgia”.
But while the issue of Ukraine has stirred a rare consensus among Tbilisi’s usually squabbling politicians, some have started demanding action and not just words from the current leadership.
Giga Bokeria, a former national security adviser to the fervently pro-Western ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, criticised the resolution for “refusing to call on the West to impose sanctions against the Kremlin”.
Saakashvili, who has visited Kiev in recent weeks to advise Ukraine’s interim leadership, has launched an online petition “for a united Ukraine”.
“Think of the ramifications if borders across the continent were to revert to ethnic lines. If there are no longer any rules, a spiralling cycle of violence and destruction is inevitable,” he wrote last week in a Washington Post op-ed.
“Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova should be put on fast-track accession to the European Union and granted membership action plans for NATO to demonstrate that Russia cannot seize its ends through illegal means,” he wrote.
