Tbilisi and Tskaltubo, Georgia – In 1993, Venera Meshveliani was one among more than 300 people who were held hostage by Russian soldiers for around three weeks in Abkhazia, a breakaway region in northwestern Georgia that borders Russia.
“I can never forget the sound of soldiers’ trampling feet and the foul, damp smell of the school building we were held hostage in. Everything I witnessed and experienced there was genocide,” said Meshveliani, an 86-year-old ethnic Georgian who hails from the Abkhazian village of Akhaldaba.
In recent months, tens of thousands of people in the Caucasian country of Georgia have taken to the streets to demand their government pursue integration with Europe.
“Glory to Georgia! Glory to Europe!” protesters shouted at a massive June 20 rally in the capital, Tbilisi. “Soon we’ll be a member of the big European family! Long live Europe!”
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Council accepted accelerated EU membership applications from Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. But while the other two countries received candidate status, approval of Georgia’s application was delayed.
