In the past few days, the world has witnessed another defeat for Putin’s Russia, this time in Syria.
Bashar al-Assad has been Putin’s most loyal ally in the Middle East. The Kremlin invested huge resources – financial, military, political – to maintain his power for years. In a matter of days, the Kremlin’s project in Syria has crumbled, and there is nothing Moscow can do about it.
The Moscow-led cooperative knot of dictatorships has been dealt a powerful blow. Now, in particular, the pathways for Putin’s proxies to infiltrate Africa – to wage wars of death and destruction in Moscow’s interests – are becoming more difficult.
The fall of the al-Assad’s regime is a blow to Russia’s prestige. But it’s not just that.
Putin’s regime dragged Syria into a protracted war with massive destruction, civilian deaths and support for one of the most repressive regimes in modern times. But this policy has brought only international condemnation and the failure of the main goals declared by the Kremlin.
The Kremlin’s policy of aggression, interference in the internal affairs of sovereign States and violation of international law has once again demonstrated its strategic and moral failure.
We wish to emphasize that in this case the political will of free countries, which demonstrated their determination to destroy the dictatorial regime of al-Assad, played a decisive role.
As an example, let us cite the same political will to support Israel’s struggle for survival – in the face of terrorist groups and regimes that seek Israel’s destruction. Israel has received the necessary military aid and political support from free countries in a timely manner.
Similar assistance has been provided to the rebels who have been fighting the al-Assad’s regime in Syria for many years, as well as to the Russian forces stationed in the country.
However, the people of Georgia, who are protesting against the anti-democratic processes taking place in their country, have not yet received such assistance, even if it is not military but political. The Georgian opposition and President Salome Zurabishvili personally declared that the election results had been rigged in favor of the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party and its shadow leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is closely linked to Russia.
Over the years, the Georgian opposition has regularly accused Ivanishvili of shady governance of the country, corruption through state capture, and close ties with the Putin regime, which threatens the country’s security.
So far, only a few international documents and decisions of free countries have included Ivanishvili’s name. For example, the European Parliament resolution (2022) refers to the deterioration of media freedom in Georgia and alleges that Ivanishvili has personal and business ties with the Kremlin that burden the Georgian government’s position on sanctions imposed on Russia.
That same year, USAID released a report that Ivanishvili has de facto control of the state in Georgia, leading to impunity for corrupt officials and Georgia’s growing economic dependence on Russia.
However, for years, including in the final years of Putin’s war in Ukraine, no tangible steps have been taken to internationally isolate the shadow regime in Georgia and counter the growth of Putin’s influence in the country. Only in recent days have the Baltic states and Ukraine imposed sanctions against Ivanishvili.
Dictatorial regimes feel only force. It was force that led to the defeat of the dictatorship in Syria. The support of free countries has for years helped Israel struggle for existence. Now the key node of world politics has become assistance to Ukraine in its struggle against Putin’s aggression. The freedom-loving Georgian people need such help.
The Free Russia Forum Council welcomes the fall of the dictatorship of Putin’s puppet Bashar al-Assad in Syria, expresses solidarity with the Georgian people’s struggle for freedom and supports their opposition to creeping Russian aggression. We hope that the forces that toppled the murderous regime will succeed in rebuilding Syria and building a free democratic state that will live in peace with other peoples.
We call for broad sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili and all those involved in the falsifications, intimidation and repression in Georgia. We call on free countries and their organizations to support the protesters in Georgia.
Only the united political will of free countries, manifested in tough and consistent decisions, can counteract the dictatorial and terrorist regimes uniting around the Moscow center.
Let’s support the people of Georgia in their struggle for freedom, democracy and European integration!
The Free Russia Forum Council,
December 10, 2024.
