was always, i'm afraid i'll never see him again. no, when, oh you lost under the stops december 18th on d. w. the this is they don't even use live from portland pro you protesters in georgia, hit add the country's new presidential pick. they say a former foot border mikhail covered actually isn't qualified for the job. as the woman he's being elected to replace claims. she won't step down. also as a week after the full of the assigned regime in syria, we take a look at how life is changing students at boxes the above. oh, really, as welcome to the program, a page or stand off over george's next president says i have 2 more protests. deepening the country's political crisis on sided

a pro you've demonstrators right outside parliament to protest the appointment. a former soccer player mikhail covered, actually forcing authorities to postpone the switch on a fast of lights. the incumbent president says she won't step down until you will actions are held. there are a few signs of the holiday season in tbilisi. popular anger has replaced seasonal ch here on the streets around george's parliament. demonstrators continue to think solve with the police after recent election. so the moscow friendly georgia dream party claim the vote was president on saturday, the georgia dream control problem and elected this man. miss, you have a, she'd be a former football player turned right wing politicians. the opposition for years will steer georgia away from joining the european union to outside the apartment building. protesters cast out on how they treat these qualifications our cause

north our government. uh great. uh to our election and our president can do that. you said brother and read god for us for the 00 pub josie, available to present the he doesn't have an invitation to the president. so we're progressing this way. we are showing our diplomas that we are more capable of being present because this is no to legitimate problem and they cannot say elected president, this is not because they are breaking the law despite how they see these election today, outgoing president. so let me sort of which cd said she won't recognize the vote and called for fresh elections in order to have peace and justice in the country. new elections and need a quote on. that is why we are here. demonstrators have once again

gathered for their nightly vigil outside of parliament, a clear sign. they went back down as a tug of war between the government and the people continues. natalie 7, that's a is a senior research fellow for the russia and you raise your program at the international affairs think tank chatham hops and she was also of george's ambassador to the european union. i asked for a little earlier whether there was a way to end this tug of war and bring government and opposition together. well that's the time goes by. i think the crisis deepens and the, the, the options begin to narrow as a moment. it seems like there are really 2 options out of this crisis that the government has. one is to crack down and claim full victory, no matter the cost. and then the other is and that's with leads to, are there a storage area in terms of the country which uh,

it seems to be already on the path. uh and another option is a democratic way out of the crisis, which would be calling you his actions, restoring legitimacy of the parliament and the government, and returning to come see to democratic m m. so your opinion process development. right now you are georgias and boss that are to the european union and what can be you do to prevent georgia from moving away from the block as well. first of all, we have to say the full majority of the georgia public supports here. again, integration of polls consistently demonstrate that it is about 80 percent of support. so the government's move is very much income for addiction to the choice of the people you work in. and the protest is a, is obviously the sign of it. we still, we'll uh, with this

a point to month of the president and sort of a picture of the crumbling of european institutional democracy in georgia because the presidency was the last institution that was not controlled by the party in control, georgia dream. and now that is also being reclaimed, so your opinion has to act both as a normative and your political power, which it claims to be. this means acting in pursuit of its interest in pursuit to visit your political interest, but without jeopardizing the values. and i think here the interest of the you and interest of the georgia public, those people who are protesting who are fighting to return a democratic georgia actually coined side to. so the, you has to send a very clear signal to the governments that these actions of turning georgia on to, into a storage area and state are unacceptable that they will not help georgia with video

pub. but they also have to increase costs on the georgia dream. there are various options that the table you can have diplomatic coach or the or, but also sanctions. it is also very important that you send a signal or you need to you so far, we have not seen a statement of the 27th member states, and that's the problem, right? considering what you're saying there, and also at the georgia dream parties that we'll say shift away from the european union. and are we going to be seeing georgia them rely more on countries like russia and china? i'm what is actually in it's for, at the georgia dream part as well. a georgia dream party will try to demonstrate to it's a to the public that it is managing either they should that it has alternatives to the west. the rhetoric that they are pushing forward lately is very similar to the

russian rhetoric. and the 2 is about the western decline about other powers rising . so there are already signs that the, the shift in the foreign policy and the shift also, and the domestic policy will push georgia dream to pursue more, this kind of what we call monte alignments. so there is already a rep for small with russia, which is clear, there is, uh, do you put in cooperation with china, the georgia dream leadership will try to pursue other connections with those countries where they have this kind of regime alignment, especially those hybrid vision games or authoritarian regimes that do not particularly care what you do domestically, they have other interest to kind of pursuit of transactional foreign policy. this would be an attempt to substitute a very strong western partnership that has been built by georgia for the past 13

years. now, considering what we've been talking about in this conversation, are you hopeful that there still might be a chance to turn at the situation around in georgia or so i started out by saying that the, the picture that we saw with this a presidential nomination was the sort of crumbling of institutional democracy. however, the protest outside show also as a resilience that society, every state democrats, inclusive in society, there's high demand from the public says this is not the course that georgia should be pursuing. i think the crisis is likely to deep button because neither side is willing to give out. these people are standing there for 3rd week in a row, in freezing temperatures and are determined to have their voices heard. and as i said that the, the options, the room for maneuver for the uh, for the storage is,

is also a narrow week. in fact, they are also showing signs of radicalization and sending signals that they are not waiting to um to, to can see that you seem to negotiate on anything. so that will have to be a way out of this crisis. and i am hopeful that a democratic solution be found, but of course there is no guarantee of really interesting i to have you on the show and great analysis. and so it's always a great to have your insights. so natalie 7, ask for your chat to him. has thank you for joining us on dw, today, or denied of nations special envoy for syria care patterson arrived in the capital damascus one week after revel groups put an end to over 5 decades of rule under the aside. finally, petterson is in the syrian capital to meet officials from the new interim government. he called for a rapid end to western sanctions so that the country could be rebuilt. but he also

stressed the need for it to monetary and assistance the old load, the serial spend food, and then on this also you military causes. so we need to make sure that the pseudo receives increased immediate humanitarian assistance to the people and 0 and to older. if you do use too long to replay it, this is this expand like the students are returning to classrooms in syria and much of the country is still in ruins. after years of civil war and international sanctions, but many in the country are facing the future with new optimism of the gates of this damascus school are opened once again. a students in syria make their way to just a week after the fall, a former president bush outside the country. the new flag is raised over the schools. grounds stuff, the feeling confident about teeth. reopening committee changes. everything is good

when we wait for the equipment and i don't know what 2 or 3 days, nor to get everything ready for the students to return safely. it's a sudden some, and shed by students who are grateful to be back in class. on the mistake, i'm very happy. i used to walk in the street scared zillow get drafted by the enemy . i used to be afraid when i reached a check point. on the outskirts of serious capital, things are less certain, but palestinian refugees hope they consume to return to the come, they once called home fido silicon, quite a bit under my big compass, my sewage. you really feel good time to sign up here. now, even though you are fond from me as to how to do, there's so many things here that your mind, this of, by this time i really hope and pray to god the could be deeper and become better than before. what do we do or what? and one of the less damaged areas, a fruits and vegetables stole his reopen and his doing brisk business. assigned

perhaps have things to come as 3 images from the decades of dictatorship, with tentative optimism around 1000000 syrian sources item here in germany, over the course of the civil war. many have since become german citizens, but still come in close contact with relatives in syria. re on our shavel flight to germany in 2015 and was elected mayor of a small time just 8 years later of the tone of us those time in south west germany, a short drive from the industrial how books to guide us. those high made international headlines last year when folders here elected syrian refugee re an officer. both as there may are eligible was among the hundreds of thousands of syrians who made their way to germany in 2015 after fleeing their homeland. now almost a decade later,

they are eligible and many others can hardly believe what's been happening in syria . the guns enough to shall i watch the news all night and looked at my mobile phone every 5 minutes. hold on a 2nd when it became clear by the next morning that a sod had obviously left of it was a shock and shock in, in a positive sense. of course, that's who lives when eligible arrived in germany in 2015. he didn't speak a word of german. 2 years later, he started a training course in administration. after getting german citizenship, he ran for mayor in austin's time. he campaigned on tackling local issues like child care and making sure there's a supermarket and talented in the newcomer. 155 percent of the vote are eligible still keeps in close contact with his parents back in syria while he welcomes the temple for me to have the luxury like the incoming president says she

won't step down until you elections for house. that's all for now. i would stay with this for reporter up at up id like to mike. a junior will be here from the top . the next number. the people in trucks in judge was trying to see the city center. and the straight pieces explain the around the world more than 150000000 people us we of mine because.