FROM OUR REPORTER
TBILISI — Lor does she know that they describe her as a heroine? A smile, her eyes lowering: «I didn’t expect all this clamor. And I don’t like people talking about heroic deeds.’ The look that resolves: “And then where is the heroism? I think that any normal person, if they had found themselves in a moment like that, would have held tightly to the flag of Europe”. Certain icons don’t levitate on passions: they throw themselves into the fray, accept the tough game, take buckets in the face. And in the epiphany of Georgia in revolt Wednesday night, an icon suddenly appeared with the starry flag flying loudest and bravest of all. Resisting the police water cannons. Standing in front of the crowd. Shouting in despair, until the others supported her too. They saw her, they published her, they admired her all over the world: a lonely and stubborn woman, to defy the special units barricaded in the Parliament of Tbilisi. “An exciting scene,” commented the US State Department. A meme of the times: like the muddy Ukrainians in the trenches, the Iranians who take to the streets to get their hair cut, the little boy with the shopping bags in front of the Tiananmen tanks. “At that moment I wasn’t afraid, I didn’t think about it too much.”
On Rustaveli Avenue, the small Maidan of Tbilisi, that woman is no longer there. For three days she locked herself at home, removed herself from social networks, did not show up at work. «She has Covid», her friends protected her. Or perhaps some fear of having gone viral in a completely different sense: Nana Malashkia, 44, is a state employee, she went against the government, she ended up on all homepages. And as long as she could, she dodged any statement that told of her gesture: «In the end, however, I thought it was right to come out. Be seen. Ask for help. Alone, we Georgians cannot do it».
The icon looks just like an icon now: hair in place, hands poised, liquid eyes, barely any make-up, a candid blouse. She goes to the studio to record a TV interview. She has a laptop in front of her. She can be seen again and again in the images of that night. And she tells us how we enter history: “It all happened somewhat by accident. I had finished my tour of duty. I was going to the hospital with my husband, for a visit, and in the meantime I scrolled through the news on social media. I saw the news: the crowd had gathered on Rustaveli to protest against the “Russian law”, which wanted to punish those who make independent information and those who make welfare receiving aid from abroad. I realized that things were getting worse. And I couldn’t not go there.” It only took a few minutes: «In the street there was an old lady who was selling sweets, necklaces. And flags: she only had one from the EU, and I bought it. At first, the demonstration seemed like a normal thing. Until the police began to warn with megaphones: “Get out of here! If you don’t, we have to restore order!” I got scared because I saw they weren’t calm. There was a lot of tension. They told us “be calm!”, but they were the most nervous. At a certain point the charges of the Robocops started, the armored vehicles moved, they fired the tear gas canisters. And they opened the hydrants.’ Anger mounted: «Yes, people were really furious. It is not normal for the state to put on a helmet like that. They were all boys, students… I tried to protect myself. But one of the demonstrators was shot in the eye and that’s when my heart told me to move. I started waving my flag and they pelted me with water cannons. I felt the weight of my age, I wasn’t strong enough to resist. I’m so grateful to the guys who shielded me, held me up, joined me! At first I thought that, to help me, they wanted to get me out of there: I wanted to go forward, not backwards! Instead then the boys lowered my head, in front of the very strong jet of water. It lasted a while. I was so upset that I don’t even know where my flag is anymore. I lost it!”.
Someone criticized Nana for not having brandished the symbol of Georgia: «But I always wave the Georgian flag! In 2014, when I went to Ukraine to visit relatives, I relived the same emotion. I found myself in the Maidan protests. I didn’t want to demonstrate, but I saw what happiness is in fighting for Europe. Even then, I bought an EU flag, went to the front row and waved it: I still have the video my husband shot of me».
In front of the Parliament of Tbilisi, he does not demobilize. We are on the fifth day of demonstrations. “I don’t know why the Russians are always so angry with us – the first Georgian president, the post-Soviet Eduard Shevardnadze liked to say – perhaps the fact that we were the birthplace of Stalin has something to do with it?”. Certainly, it has to do with the fact that 85% of Georgians want to join the EU: the story seems to be only at the beginning and the Georgian Dream majority party, which for months has moved closer to Moscow and is copying Putin’s laws, has currently retreated. However, the Rustaveli crowd does not trust him. And a new flag has been given itself: still with the five crosses of St. George, but with white and red that have been transformed into the yellow and blue of Ukraine. “In this situation, we have a duty not to end up like the Ukrainians and the right to ask for more Europe,” says Nana: “That evening, the others shielded me against the fire hydrants. But our shield is the EU. We cannot defend our independence alone. And to protect our identity, we need you Europeans.”