Demarco's Challenge Against Authoritarianism

In the heart of Scotland, a cultural icon named Richard Demarco recently addressed an invited audience at Fingask Castle, discussing the return of Robert Sturua to Edinburgh in 2026. This event, held on 22 August, comes amidst a tumultuous political climate in Georgia, where street protestors are calling for fresh elections and an end to Russian involvement in Georgian affairs.

The unrest in Georgia stems from the general election that saw the Georgian Dream Party come to power, which the European Parliament has stated was "neither free nor fair." Since then, tens of thousands of demonstrators have regularly taken to the streets of Tbilisi and other cities. The police have reacted with brutality, tear gas, and the arrest of prominent opposition figures.

Meanwhile, the Edinburgh Festival, founded in 1947 with the aim of celebrating European culture and free expression, remains a beacon of truth and freedom. This year, under the theme "The truth we seek," the festival is directed by Nicola Benedetti.

Demarco, a staunch advocate for truth in creativity, sees Sturua's return as a reaffirmation of the festival's roots as a celebration of European culture and art. Sturua himself has a rich history with Edinburgh, having brought Shakespeare's Richard III to the city in 1979, despite being performed in Georgian without sub-titles, which played to packed houses.

However, the return of Sturua to Edinburgh in 2026 seems to have little connection with the political climate in Georgia or the critical articles written by former U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who served in that role in 2025. Through his state department, Rubio launched a blog on Substack in April, criticizing European governments for replacing their spiritual and cultural roots, treating traditional values as dangerous relics, and centralizing power in unaccountable institutions.

The blog, titled "The Need for Civilizational Allies in Europe," accused European governments of betraying the West by embracing multiculturalism and secularism. This criticism is seen as a direct attack on the European Union, which the Trumpists despise because it challenges the power of big business, especially American big business, and because Europe's economic weight and the EU's political legitimacy stand in the way of American dominance.

For the Trump administration, this is not a policy critique, but an ideological excommunication: Europe is now the principal threat to the West's survival. This perspective is shared by the Georgian Dream Party, which has an agenda of social conservatism, nationalism, and religious fundamentalism, which some compare to Putin's Russia and Trump's America.

As the political landscape continues to shift, the Edinburgh Festival stands as a testament to the power of European culture and free expression, a reminder that truth and freedom are essential bedfellows in a world that often seeks to suppress them.