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How we can save Georgian democracy

8 1
14.12.2024

On Jan. 1, 2017 — eight years ago next month — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), my father, visited Georgia. It was the last of his many visits to a country and people that he so loved and respected.

On that day, he shook hands with a Georgian farmer, Data Vanishvili, affectionally referred to in Georgian as Grandpa Data (Data-Papa), whose property had been unjustly separated from the rest of Georgia by a Russian barbed-wire fence. My father knew that Georgia’s occupier and enemy was Russia, and that Georgia’s only chance of protecting its freedom and independence lies with the West.

Sadly, like my father, Data-Papa has since passed away. His wife, Valia, survives, may God be with her. But unlike my father, who spent his last days in Arizona at our beloved Hidden Valley ranch, Data-Papa passed away separated from his own lands.

The situation in Georgia today tears at my heart. John McCain was a passionate believer in the Georgian people, and Georgian democracy. He saw the fiery spirit of freedom emblazoned on their faces, and he........

© The Hill


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