Georgia sees parallels with Ukraine: "We experienced the same thing"

The people of Georgia cannot help but draw parallels between what is happening now in Ukraine and what happened in Georgia. And that was in 2008. At that time, Moscow recognized the independence of the breakaway regions of Abchkasia and South Ossetia.

One woman says: "If Putin invades Ukraine, that means he can also invade Georgia." And another says: "I just want peace and love, nothing else."

She comes from Abkhazia: "This situation is pretty tricky for me. I have the feeling that Putin can't really assess the whole thing."

A young man explains: "Russia did the same thing in Georgia not so long ago. I am young, but the pain of the older generation is my pain too. The pain of Ukraine is now the pain of the Georgian nation."

During the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, Salome Samadashvili served as Georgian Ambassador to the EU.

She currently represents the opposition in the Georgian parliament and remembers how it all began: "In 2008, when I was head of the Georgian mission to the European Union, it was extremely difficult to convince our western friends and allies – despite their significant help which they undoubtedly provided to Georgia at this difficult time – that Putin would not stop in Georgia and that the next target of Russia's aggression would be Ukraine Unfortunately, at the time, no one in the West could have imagined that Putin would go that far would go. But he did in 2014."

Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili says that there are clear parallels between Georgia and Ukraine: "Ukraine obviously has similar security problems as Georgia. We again call on the international community to take a quick and clear position, because our security, the security of our people, is closely linked to what is happening in Ukraine."

The people of Georgia are worried that the events in Ukraine could cause an open and wide conflict in the Black Sea region, many think of Georgia in 2008. We here in Georgia along with the rest of the world are watching the developments in Ukraine and we are think about the future of Ukraine and Georgia.