Helsinki Commission’s Paul Massaro says Maidan still possible in Georgia during call with Russian pranksters

Paul Massaro, the Senior Policy Advisor at the Helsinki Commission, said a “Maidan”-style revolution was still possible in Georgia.

His comments came during a phone call with Russian pranksters posing as Kostyantyn Yeliseyev, the former Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine between 2015 and 2019.

During the conversation, which dates back to earlier this year but surfaced recently in media reports, Massaro stated that protests were ongoing in Tbilisi and expressed hope that they could eventually lead to significant political change.

“It [a Maidan-style revolution] could happen. We are pushing very hard, and we think it’s very important. Protests are taking place. We are working on this very diligently. I think they will succeed”, Massaro said.

He also emphasised that the United States was heavily engaged in efforts related to Georgia, mentioning the proposed Megobari Act.

“Believe me, we are doing enormous work with Georgia... We hope that in the near future we will receive a strong bill in Congress. Thank God the [US] Ambassador met with Zourabichvili. But the Biden administration has been bad in everything. I really don't want to think that in America we are going from bad to worse”, Massaro concluded.