Analysts assess likelihood of large-scale street protests in Georgia

The Russia's special operation in Ukraine has completely changed the security map of the world; therefore, the NATO member-countries have decided to support Georgia more strongly, a NATO source has stated. Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili believes that it is necessary to resume street protests in order to change the government. In their turn, analysts believe that the country has no prerequisites for large-scale protests.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 13, the Georgian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced plans to hold three-day exercises with NATO. On March 3, it also became known that the Georgian Premier signed an application for the country's accession to the European Union (EU).

Meanwhile, Mikhail Saakashvili, a former Georgian President, finds it necessary to resume street protests in order to change the ruling power. The actions should be large, at least 200,000 people strong, he believes.

Mamuka Zhgenti from the Georgian Institute of European Values thinks it premature to hold protests, since first it is necessary to define the country's foreign policy. He has pointed out that the population had spoken in favour of integration into Europe, but at the same time, the majority supports the ruling party, which is loyal to Russia.

In his turn, Nika Chitadze, the head of the Centre for Security and International Relation Studies, believes that there are no prerequisites for street actions in Georgia. Earlier, the opposition had organized them, but failed to achieve results.