Why did the TV host attack Putin?
Georgian TV host verbally attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin on a live TV show. His comments lead to protests and in the end channel suspended broadcasting.
Protests didn’t start just because a Georgian TV host attacked Putin, it all began before this incident.
For weeks there were violent protests in the former Soviet republic. Protests started because of a visit by Vladimir Putin. Protest quickly turned into a double crisis, turning Moscow against Tbilisi and the protesters against their government.
What happened during live TV?
Giorgi Gabunia started his Sunday show on Georgia’s independent Rustavi 2 television station with a minute-long video of graphic vulgarity at the Russian president and his deceased mother.
Gabunia spoke in Russian, during his speech he called Russian people slaves and told them that they should get out of Georgia.
Consequences after the show
Later that night Georgians gathered outside the Rustavi 2 office to demonstrate against Gabunia’s comments. After that channel went off the air on Monday morning over safety concerns.
Georgian president Salome Zurabishvili and other Georgian officials condemned the TV host’s actions as a provocation against the country’s interests.
The verbal attack on Putin was unacceptable and it was an attempt to undermine Georgian-Russian relations, said Russia’s Foreign Ministry. This situation was a disgrace for the Georgian people and the Georgian authorities were failing to pacify radical anti-Russian forces, told Dmitry Peskov.
The TV channel later apologized and the television station started fully working on Monday morning.
But after this incident, there was new controversy. Russia suspended flights to Georgia starting Monday. They told that it would tighten controls on Georgian wine imports.
As we can see, there will be a lot of issues between Russia and Georgia. One crisis was resolved when another one is about to happen. There will be a lot of things happening between these two countries where a simple apology would not work anymore.
