WEBVTT - Georgia President Salome Zourabichvili Talks Bill Controversy

0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.840
<v Speaker 1>Now Georgia's prospects of joining the EU r jeopardy after

0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.320
<v Speaker 1>the ruling party passed a foreign agents bill. Now, under

0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:10.840
<v Speaker 1>the law, foreign funded NGOs and independent media would have

0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.440
<v Speaker 1>to register with the government. Now, the ruling parties as

0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:17.240
<v Speaker 1>a bill is necessary for transparency, but the legislation has

0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:21.480
<v Speaker 1>triggered massive protests and drawn condemnation from the US, from

0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:24.439
<v Speaker 1>the EU and from NATO. Well, we're delighted to be

0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:28.560
<v Speaker 1>joined by Salome subar Shally, the President of Georgia, who

0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.320
<v Speaker 1>has said she will veto the law matter. President, thank

0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.080
<v Speaker 1>you so much for joining us. Do you think that

0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.920
<v Speaker 1>this law could still be stopped or reversed?

0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:42.000
<v Speaker 2>It has been stopped and rejected last year by the

0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:47.800
<v Speaker 2>same mass demonstrations and protests from our European and.

0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:48.360
<v Speaker 3>Foreign American partners.

0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.080
<v Speaker 2>But it has been reintroduced despite the promise by the

0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.440
<v Speaker 2>government that they will never do so, and the way

0:00:55.520 --> 0:01:00.000
<v Speaker 2>they have introduced it and debated it in the parliament

0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:04.319
<v Speaker 2>without allowing the opposition really to be present even does

0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:08.319
<v Speaker 2>not make me hope that they're going to withdraw it.

0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:14.000
<v Speaker 2>And frankly, by now it doesn't matter very much whether

0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.640
<v Speaker 2>they withstraw this law or not. Because it's a whole

0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:22.720
<v Speaker 2>picture that is very concerning all other laws that have

0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:29.240
<v Speaker 2>been going running against the recommendations made by European Union

0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.600
<v Speaker 2>in order for US to be able to apply for

0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:39.720
<v Speaker 2>opening negotiations of accession. So the whole range on one side,

0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:44.119
<v Speaker 2>laws that go against the absence of laws that are

0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:47.920
<v Speaker 2>required in the fields where we are supposed to make progress,

0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:51.080
<v Speaker 2>there is nothing to be done. And the third part

0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:55.160
<v Speaker 2>is a rhetoric which is very anti Western, anti European,

0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:57.960
<v Speaker 2>from the top to the bottom of the ruling party,

0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.240
<v Speaker 2>from the represident is freely to older leaders.

0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:05.280
<v Speaker 3>They speak the same language and call.

0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:10.040
<v Speaker 2>Our partners of thirty years that have really built our

0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:14.520
<v Speaker 2>state and its independence and its development. They're called foreign

0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:19.359
<v Speaker 2>agents that want to subvert the country, that want to destabilized,

0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.280
<v Speaker 2>that want to withdraw the government. This is a very

0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:27.359
<v Speaker 2>Russian language. That's Russia. That's what Russia is always saying.

0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:28.960
<v Speaker 3>Madame President, what it is prompted?

0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.519
<v Speaker 1>So, how much concern has there been in your discussions

0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.600
<v Speaker 1>with the US and with the EU, and what does

0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:41.600
<v Speaker 1>this mean to possibly exceed you membership.

0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.040
<v Speaker 2>Well, it means that we are at a very concerning

0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:49.959
<v Speaker 2>point that the measure is taken, and the turn taken

0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.080
<v Speaker 2>by the authorities is not leaving us in that direction,

0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.320
<v Speaker 2>and that's why you see these lassive demonstrations up to

0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:59.960
<v Speaker 2>two hundred thousand people, and it's a thirty seventh stage,

0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:04.239
<v Speaker 2>thirty eighth stay of demonstrations, and that explains it's this

0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:08.400
<v Speaker 2>major concern that we might be losing a very important

0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:12.480
<v Speaker 2>chance and that chance might not come back in the future,

0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.080
<v Speaker 2>and that would be the responsibility of the government. So

0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:19.120
<v Speaker 2>there is concern in the society, There is concern among

0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:24.000
<v Speaker 2>our partners. But we still have a chance because we

0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:28.240
<v Speaker 2>have closed by elections next October. And I think that

0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:32.440
<v Speaker 2>after this very clear demonstration expression of the will of

0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.320
<v Speaker 2>the people on the streets, now we need to have

0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:36.080
<v Speaker 2>a very.

0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:38.080
<v Speaker 3>Clear expression of the will of the people.

0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:41.960
<v Speaker 2>In the elections to confirm that the road they want

0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:42.760
<v Speaker 2>is a road.

0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.720
<v Speaker 3>To Europe and nothing else. So it will be a

0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:46.640
<v Speaker 3>kind of thread.

0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Are you, in more immediate time actually concerned about

0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:55.240
<v Speaker 1>the increase in violence and the crackdown on protesters.

0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:59.600
<v Speaker 2>I am concerned when you have in a rule thirty

0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:04.040
<v Speaker 2>days of demonstrations. Well, we are very pacific protesters to

0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.640
<v Speaker 2>underline that, because there are basically young people, but not

0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:12.640
<v Speaker 2>only and there has not been one single car burnt

0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:17.719
<v Speaker 2>or warn't shop vandalized during all these demonstrations, So that

0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:21.479
<v Speaker 2>shows the type of demonstrations we have where people sing

0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:22.159
<v Speaker 2>and dance.

0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.560
<v Speaker 3>But of course the violence.

0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:28.440
<v Speaker 2>That is exerted by the police forces and especially by

0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.560
<v Speaker 2>special forces can always escalate. That's why I think that

0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.400
<v Speaker 2>we have to be very careful that our partners have

0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:39.560
<v Speaker 2>to put pressure on the authorities to stop the intimidation

0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:44.119
<v Speaker 2>that we have. People are arrested, including their homes because

0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:45.160
<v Speaker 2>they have been seen.

0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:47.239
<v Speaker 3>And photographed on the demonstrations.

0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.320
<v Speaker 2>So that should be the pressure that we need today

0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:56.800
<v Speaker 2>from our partners, Europeans and Western partners, and then we

0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:00.240
<v Speaker 2>will need support to prepare for the elections.

0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.040
<v Speaker 1>Madam President, you've called this a you know this law

0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:06.040
<v Speaker 1>Russian law. Does this go to the fact that basically

0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.480
<v Speaker 1>it's a battle in Georgia over who to align with

0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:09.719
<v Speaker 1>Russia or the West.

0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:13.039
<v Speaker 3>There's no battle in Georgia.

0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.560
<v Speaker 2>Georgia, you have to remember, is a country that has

0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:20.159
<v Speaker 2>been fighting for its independence from many countries over the centuries,

0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:24.159
<v Speaker 2>but from Russia still since eighteen o one.

0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:26.800
<v Speaker 3>So it's very clear for us.

0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:31.320
<v Speaker 2>So who is the country that wants to occupy Russia

0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.839
<v Speaker 2>Georgia and who are our friends partners that have been

0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.000
<v Speaker 2>supporting Georgia's independence and development.

0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.720
<v Speaker 3>And Georgia's independence is.

0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:44.640
<v Speaker 2>Directly today for eighty percent of the population, and that

0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:49.039
<v Speaker 2>explains the high numbers linked to Georgia's independence.

0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.360
<v Speaker 3>We know that those two cannot be deluined.

0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:56.080
<v Speaker 2>That's why such a reaction, and that's why such a

0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.680
<v Speaker 2>strong support to our European future.

0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.000
<v Speaker 1>But why do you think the founder of the ruling

0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:03.760
<v Speaker 1>party actually wants us law.

0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:07.839
<v Speaker 2>That you have to ask to them. It doesn't make sense.

0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.960
<v Speaker 2>They might even have won the elections if they're not

0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:16.920
<v Speaker 2>presented this law. And because their speech until now, their

0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:22.320
<v Speaker 2>narrative until then nas December, despite some measures that were

0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:26.640
<v Speaker 2>not very comprehensible, the narrative in December was that we

0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.680
<v Speaker 2>are going towards the European Union. We are the ones

0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:33.880
<v Speaker 2>that made that possible. And suddenly we have the narrative

0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.040
<v Speaker 2>that you can hear in the speech of the president

0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.760
<v Speaker 2>of the party and infially on twenty nine of April,

0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:44.800
<v Speaker 2>which is a war on our Western and European partners.

0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.120
<v Speaker 1>Madam President, thank you so much for joining us today.

0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:51.240
<v Speaker 1>That was Salomon Lurabash really thank you. The President of Georgia.

0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:51.479
<v Speaker 1>There