Will Georgian Dream fully embrace Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations?

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

After the official approval of Georgia’s candidacy by EU leaders this month, full EU membership hinges on Georgia’s future foreign policy decisions, political unity, and holding fair and free elections in 2024, Ekaterine Zalenski writes.

ADVERTISEMENT

On 18 October, Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, failed to impeach President Salome Zourabichvili.

This impeachment procedure was initiated in response to Zourabichvili’s unauthorised meetings with European leaders, advocating for Georgia’s EU candidacy. 

The Constitutional Court of Georgia ruled that these meetings violated the constitution, prompting a parliamentary impeachment vote. However, only 86 lawmakers voted in favour of impeachment, falling short of the required 100 votes.

These months of tension between the ruling party and the President reflect broader societal divisions in Georgia concerning the nation’s Euro-Atlantic prospects. 

Recent opinion polls by the International Republic Institute in Georgia reveal strong support for EU and NATO membership, with 89% and 80% of participants expressing support, respectively. 

However, the government’s actions indicate a different position, raising questions about the divergence between official decisions and public desires.

Should a shift away be of concern?

Over the past two decades, Russia has maintained its use of soft power and efforts to counter Western influence in Georgia. 

Despite the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, which resulted in the occupation of 20% of Georgian territories and significant political and economic damage, Georgia had uninterruptedly been on a pro-Western path. 

However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there has been a notable shift in Georgia’s governmental stance.

With Russia’s significant military presence in the country, and the recent explicit warning from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev regarding the potential formal annexation of Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the imperative to prioritise territorial security and embrace democratic opportunities offered by Euro-Atlantic integration should become more compelling. 

This approach should take precedence over aligning with more pro-Russian political interests.

‘Foreign agent’ bill and pointing the finger at Ukraine

While the government insists on its commitment to EU and NATO accession, as enshrined in Georgia’s constitution, emphasising pro-Western activities, voting records on UN resolutions, and efforts, which have now paid off, of meeting EU recommendations, a closer evaluation reveals an overall lack of tangible commitment to a genuinely pro-European trajectory.

Most notably, during a period of Western sanctions on Russia, the Georgian government abstained, asserting that it aimed to prevent exacerbating tensions and potential Russian aggression within the nation.

Georgian Dream supported the resumption of Georgia-Russia flights, endorsed Vladimir Putin’s visa changes for Georgians, and introduced the controversial “foreign agent” bill, sparking societal unrest.

Furthermore, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili attributed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the country’s NATO aspirations and even accused the European Parliament of attempting to involve Georgia in the conflict.

Additionally, the government used systematic propaganda, akin to Russia’s tactics, painting liberal principles associated with Euro-Atlantic integration as a derogatory term and linking it to eroding traditional values.

EU green light in the shadow of domestic trouble

Although Zourabichvili was not impeached, the process significantly constrained her capacity to engage in future foreign diplomatic visits and inflicted substantial damage on her credibility. 

Nevertheless, the president’s prior efforts have now gained significance with the European Commission recommending granting Georgia candidate status. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Despite this momentous development, the repercussions of the impeachment process extend beyond the immediate context, and the caveat in the European Commission’s decision must be acknowledged. 

After the official approval of Georgia’s candidacy by EU leaders this month, full EU membership hinges on Georgia’s future foreign policy decisions, political unity, and holding fair and free elections in 2024. 

Consequently, the Georgian Dream’s actions will continue to mould the nation’s future trajectory.

Ultimately, the advantages of Georgia officially receiving candidacy status outweigh the advantages of not doing so. A rejection would undoubtedly have had profound effects at both societal and political levels. 

Candidate status could counter substantial threats

Zourabichvili’s unwavering commitment to fostering close ties with Western institutions, coupled with her vocal criticisms of Russia and Putin, aligned with the pro-European and anti-Russian sentiments expressed by the population throughout recent protests. 

ADVERTISEMENT

A rejection would have impacted this pro-European sentiment and potentially augmented Russia’s political leverage and influence in Georgia. This still presents a substantial threat that warrants careful international consideration.

The influx of Russian settlers and businesses into the country, facilitated by the ruling party’s open-door policy, also raises security concerns; the Russian notion of “Compatriots Abroad” has previously been exploited by Russia to advance its foreign policy objectives through military means in both Georgia and Ukraine. 

In the larger geopolitical context, the upcoming construction of a Russian naval base in Abkhazia further raises security concerns for the entire region.

However, granting Georgia EU candidate status constitutes an act of validation and reward for the government despite its democratic regression, and one might question whether this potentially undermines the credibility of the EU’s enlargement policy. 

Ultimately, EU candidate status is extended to the people and their aspirations must not be disregarded. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Optimistic anticipations remain that candidate status may positively influence the government’s future decisions and that the 2024 elections will foster a transformative shift in the country’s political trajectory.

Ekaterine Zalenski is Research Analyst at London Politica, focusing on European political affairs with an emphasis on Eastern Europe.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at [email protected] to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

Source link

#Georgian #Dream #fully #embrace #Georgias #EuroAtlantic #aspirations

Anti-EU protests in Georgia: Are they staged or real?

EU flags were ablaze outside the Georgian Parliament on Tuesday.

In an apparent outburst of anti-European feeling, a crowd — mostly made up of older men — tore down an EU flag hanging outside the building in Tiblisi and turned it to ashes

“We openly state that there is a very numerous segment in Georgian society that is against the idea of European integration,” said Shota Martinenko, Secretary General of the group behind the protest.

“Everyone will have to listen to the voice of this segment.”

But this is simply not true.

Support for joining the bloc among Georgia’s some four million citizens is as high as 81%, according to a 2022 poll by the National Democratic Institute.

“It was a very staged performance,” Tamta Gelashvili, a researcher of the Georgian far right at the University of Oslo, told Euronews.

“The demonstration was aimed at showing international society there’s disagreement among people about the country’s foreign policy orientation.”

“It wants to create this impression, but such diversity of opinion isn’t really there.”

‘Sneaky strategies’

The unruly demo – reportedly “unimpeded by the scant police presence” – was organised by Alt Info, a far-right, pro-Russian, anti-Western group.

“They’re a peculiar organism,” said Gelashvili. “They have been created in a very artificial way. They didn’t have a big social base. They don’t have a big network. They’re not really linked to other far-right groups.”

Alt Info started life in around 2018 as an online news website, translating articles from far-right outlets, such as Breitbart, focused on “cultural flashpoints”, such as migration and gender. 

“Back then it was very tiny,” Gelashvili told Euronews. “The website had zero information, so we never knew who was behind this group. We didn’t know anything about them.”

Things changed in 2021.

Alt Info established a political party called the ‘Conservative Movement‘, with offices springing up in all corners of the country within a year – something Gelashvili called a “dream” for most parties.

Where the party got the massive financial resources needed for this breakneck expansion is unclear.

Gelashvili pointed to a “suspicious system” where money was personally donated by members, though when journalists asked about the origin of this cash some said it had been given to them by the party itself.

“Clearly some kind of financial obscurity is going on there,” she said. “They have a lot of funds, but they don’t really want to disclose where this money is coming from.”

‘Georgia has no future with the West’

Some in Georgia have speculated that Alt Info is funded by Moscow, though Gelashvili was more cautious, saying there was “very little evidence” for this – despite “a lot of suspicions”.

“It certainly plays into Russian hands to create this instability and try to reverse the very clear pro-Western orientation of our country,” she said, adding that Alt Info was trying to “break a taboo” about striking a pro-Russian stance.

“But I’m always very careful to say there are direct financial links. A long-standing problem in Georgian politics is that every time we don’t like someone, we just call them Pro-Russian.”

Russia maintains significant interests in the tiny caucasian county, which was once part of the USSR. It invaded in 2008, occupying the Abkhazia and South Ossetia territories in northern Georgia.

Members of Alt Info have repeatedly claimed the West will drag Georgia into the Ukraine war – a line repeated by the Russian state media.

“From a geopolitical point of view, the policy of the European Union and America involves provoking a war between Georgia and Russia and opening a second front in order to weaken Russia’s influence in the region and strengthen its own influence,” Alt Info Secretary General Shota Martinenko wrote in a statement sent to Euronews.

“Those people who want integration with the West are simply victims of propaganda prepared for their destruction by the West,” he continued. “We are trying to wake them up.”

While there is no basis for these claims, Alt Info has seized on Georgia’s faltering EU ambitions.

In June, Brussels left the country off the waiting list to join the bloc, while granting candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.

“We do not believe that Georgia’s accession to the European Union is at all possible,” said Martinenko. “It is an unfulfilled task and a fairy tale due to geographical and geopolitical reasons, which the West uses to give hope to Georgians… to demand that their interests be pursued in return for these hopes.”

Georgia’s EU bid has been dogged by concerns over its political system, which is blighted by accusations of fraud, intimidation, vote-buying, cronyism and police harassment, besides accusations Oligraphs exert excessive influence over politics and the media.

Other questions surround Alt Info’s connections to the ruling Georgian Dream Party, a nominally pro-democracy, pro-European party that came to power in 2012. 

In the last couple of years, it has increasingly parroted Kremlin-like messages and shown “authoritarian tendencies of repressing dissent”, according to analyst Gelashvili.

“There’s a lot of symbiosis between the state and Alt Info, if not direct links,” she claimed. “Their narratives overlap, suggesting Georgian Dream uses the group strategically to deepen political polarisation with its rivals.”

Georgia’s police force has also been accused of complicity with Alt Info.

In 2021, more than 50 journalists and activists were violently assaulted by far-right mobs ahead of a planned Pride March in support of the LBGT community.

“In the case of European integration, it is clear that traditional Georgian culture and values are under threat,” said Alt Info leader Martinenko. “The norms that the European Union rigidly demands from our country to establish are completely unacceptable for the largest part of Georgian society: massive LGBT propaganda and attempts to declare homosexuality, transgenderism and similar pathological perversions as the norm, aggressive feminism and support for liberal immigration policy.”

Human rights — some relating to the rights and status of minorities — are protected under EU treaties, though Brussels does not enforce policy on national governments.  

‘Just a few dozen people pretending they are a movement’

Right now Alt Info remains on the political margins, despite the media circus around their protests. Last year, their support took a beating after members visited Russia and met with officials amid the Ukraine war.

Their fiery anti-EU demo on Tuesday was small, numbering a few hundred. Meanwhile, recent protests against a now stalled ‘foreign agent’ law – which critics branded as anti-democratic – drew in tens of thousands.

Whether they have a political future is unclear.

“The danger comes in a more long-term sense,” says Gelashvili. “I don’t see them becoming an electorally powerful political actor. But their anti-equality narrative is dangerous… it could impact public opinion and Georgia’s democratisation process.”

“The problem is they have a lot of money and money can buy you a lot of things”. I would be very careful to put any kind of very strong opinion forward,” she continued.

“Nobody really knows what they could do.”



Source link

#AntiEU #protests #Georgia #staged #real

View Q&A: Georgians will keep defending their freedoms, says EU expert


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

Massive protests broke out in the streets of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, on 7 March as the parliament prepared to pass a bill that would require non-governmental organisations, news outlets and other entities that receive 20% of their funding from outside the country to be registered as “foreign agents”.

Immediately compared to the Russian and Hungarian laws on foreign agents, the draft law is in direct opposition to a 12-point EU conditionality plan that Georgia would need to fulfil in order to be granted candidacy status. 

Thousands took to the streets and continued to protest even after the draft bill was suspended from further parliamentary approval.

Euronews spoke to Vano Chkhikvadze from the Open Society Foundation in Georgia — an NGO that would be directly affected by the law — who also manages their European Integration program.

Euronews View: Could you provide us with a bit of background in terms of how this came about? Especially in a country where EU integration is still very popular, and this evidently goes against it?

Vano Chkhikvadze: Well, I think this is a clear sign that there’s a big split between the society and the authorities. On the one hand, authorities in Georgia try to demonstrate that they are pro-European.

They’re the ones who submitted the application for EU membership, but at the same time, they initiated this draft law and passed it in the first hearing. This pushed people to go out in the streets for three days.

On Thursday morning, the ruling Georgian Dream coalition representatives said they would suspend the law, and they will likely come back to it after they believe things have calmed down.

Euronews View: There are not that many countries where protests get so big so fast and where they end up being effective in procuring change in the parliament. Why do you think people were so angry?

Vano Chkhikvadze: The support for EU integration is very high in Georgia. At times, it has gone up to 80%. In fact, it’s never gone below 65% in the history of the country. 

People understood immediately that the law would derail Georgia’s membership process.

People see this as a Russian law, or a law that brings Georgia within the Russian sphere of interest and people have been fighting against that.

People do not believe that Georgian Dream will fully withdraw the law and, in fact, according to parliamentary procedure, this actually means that the same 78 members of parliament now have to organise a second hearing, and at that second hearing, they have to vote against the law. 

Let’s see how that goes.

Euronews View: What is the security situation in the country like, keeping in mind that 20% of Georgia has been under Russian occupation since 2008?

Vano Chkhikvadze: The occupation of the country is ongoing, and the human rights situation there continues to be drastic.

There are regular cases where people living on the other side of the occupation line accidentally cross the border and are arrested. 

There are Russian military bases located there, so this is pretty worrisome and makes the security situation pretty volatile.

Euronews View: What are the security guarantees from Western allies?

Vano Chkhikvadze: Georgia is a very close partner of NATO, and we strive to be members of it. 

The West has woken up after what’s happened in Ukraine. It’s not the situation it was back in 2008. 

I think they finally understand that it is [Russian president Vladimir] Putin’s Russia who wants to take control of the former Soviet States.

I think that these kinds of wake-up calls help us believe that if something happens, our Western partners would not be hesitant to support us. 

There are no firm security guarantees, but a general awareness in the West of what is going on here is appreciated by Georgian society.

Euronews View: What is the position of Georgian Dream when it comes to the security issues the country faces?

Vano Chkhikvadze: Georgian Dream’s approach is to demonise all other political parties and the civil society.

They try to claim that if it weren’t for Georgian Dream, there would be an active war in the country. 

And they try to promote this belief through the news outlets and TV channels controlled by them. They don’t have much else to sell to society.

The economic situation is pretty worrisome. The number of people leaving the country is quite drastic.

Thousands of people are trying to move to EU member states. Hundreds, if not thousands, are trying to get to the US as illegal migrants crossing the US-Mexico border. 

So Georgian Dream does not actually have much to offer. The only thing it can do is position itself as the only security guarantee that can maintain peace in Georgia.

Euronews View: But the major security risk to Georgia comes from Russia? How do they reason with passing Kremlin-inspired laws in order to keep the country safe from a Russian war?

Vano Chkhikvadze: We can’t really find the logic there. I think this was an attempt at demonising all their opponents, and the only thing they are thinking about — I would like to underline this — is how to maintain power in the 2024 elections. 

They don’t really care about other things. It’s priority number one.

Euronews View: Would you compare the protests and the reactions to the Maidan or Euromaidan moment in Ukraine? The scale of the protests and the EU theme seem pretty similar.

Vano Chkhikvadze: There might be some similarities. I know what the situation is here in Georgia. Basically, we are fighting for EU membership. We are fighting against anyone and anything that does not help us get there.

Euronews View: What are the political alternatives that exist in Georgia?

Vano Chkhikvadze: Not many, and it was very catchy what the leader of the biggest position party Levan Khabeishvili said on Wednesday.

He said that the people protesting on the streets don’t care about politics. 

They don’t care about political parties. What they care about is their country. 

So while there is not much of an alternative here, unfortunately, because the opposition parties are fairly weak, this does not lead to people giving up and accepting what is happening now. 

So while opposition parties are not really capable of resisting Georgian Dream, the people definitely think they can do it.

Source link

#View #Georgians #defending #freedoms #expert

Georgia is at a crossroads to European integration | View


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

As the new year begins, the world faces a reality that is drastically different from that of 12 months ago. 

The major lines are still there — we are still dealing with a pandemic, democratic institutions around the world are under threat, climate change remains a major challenge for humanity, and Russia is still seeking to destroy international order. And yet, nothing is the same.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world has seen with its own eyes the true brutality of the Kremlin, something we in Georgia had been warning about since 2008. We’ve also seen the strength of the unity and resilience of the Ukrainian people, fighting for its independence and freedom.

The response by the Western world has been one of true unity. Putin sought to divide Europe and instead, the European Union came together and showed that through togetherness, it could meet the most dangerous challenges. In June 2022, the European Council granted Ukraine and Moldova the EU membership candidacy status and this has been one of the most concrete proofs of solidarity and ambition.

Georgia was left out.

In July 2021, when the Presidents of Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova signed a joint declaration pledging for cooperation on the path to European integration under the watch of European Council President Charles Michel, Georgia was largely seen to be at the head of the pack, implementing democratic reforms since 2004. But within a year, Georgia was left behind.

We were given until the end of 2022 to adopt a series of reforms and make steps to fulfill 12 recommendations issued by the European Commission. Among them figured electoral reform to make sure the next elections would be free and fair, judicial reform to put an end to the cabal of centralised decision-makers that threaten Georgian democracy, an end to public corruption, freedom of the media, moves towards depolarisation and deoligarchisation, strengthening civil society involvement in public decisions, and electing a new Public Defender through an independent process.

Instead of these reforms, the Georgian people has witnessed a struggle between the ruling party and the President over selecting a new Chair of the Central Election Commission, the judicial clan gained new powers and its most controversial figures were appointed to higher positions, government-affiliated media and organizations have launched public attacks against civil society organisations, and Parliament failed to elect a new Public Defender.

Meanwhile, Nika Gvaramia, the founder of opposition channel Mtavari Arkhi, remains in prison. His sentence has been condemned by civil society and our Western partners.

The country remains gripped with the fate of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, in prison for more than a year and whose health continues to deteriorate. Recent revelations that traces of arsenic and mercury found in his system may be tied to poisoning have led to nationwide and international calls for his transfer abroad for treatment, calls that have been ignored by the Georgian government. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has joined those calls.

On December 14th, the European Parliament adopted a report calling for the release of Saakashvili, on Georgian leaders to stop its “aggressive verbal attacks” on European politicians, and addressing the many issues where Georgia continues to fail in democratic progress.

Meanwhile, the ruling party has used procedural tactics to strip the parliamentary opposition from its leverage by removing one by one the mandates of elected MPs.

To be clear, the death of Mikheil Saakashvili in prison benefits one and one person only: Vladimir Putin.

And these developments take place at a time when the international community has raised concerns about where Georgia stands in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Georgia itself suffers from the occupation of 20% of its territories by the Kremlin, regular kidnappings of our citizens, dire violations of human rights in the occupied territories, the “borderization” crisis that sees Russian forces erect barbed wires in the heart of Georgian land to divide Georgian households and villages. But the Prime Minister of Georgia has publicly stated his refusal to join sanctions on Russia, the Georgian economy has become increasingly dependent on the Russian market in 2022. Instead of showing public signs of solidarity towards Ukraine, Georgian government officials continue to refuse to name Russia as an aggressor, spend more time bashing Ukrainian leaders, and have even threatened to strip the citizenship of Georgian volunteers fighting for Ukraine.

Georgia is at a crossroads. The path to European integration has never been as open as it is now for Georgia, yet we keep failing on grabbing this opportunity.

We need to realise that candidacy to the European Union will remain but a desire of the Georgian people as long as the judiciary remains in the hands of one man, the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, as long as corruption continues to be rampant in the high levels of government, as long as there is no guarantee for the next elections to be held in a free and fair environment, as long as Mikheil Saakashvili and Nika Gvaramia remain in prison, and as long as the Georgian authorities continue to give mixed signals on where its foreign allegiance stands.

Europe should know that it holds a strong friend in the people of Georgia. Polls have continuously shown that 80% of the population wants to be part of the European family. And that support will not end, no matter the rhetoric issued and the steps taken by a misguided government.

Khatia Dekanoidze is a member of the Parliament of Georgia, and the Chairwoman of the Strength is in Unity parliamentary group, the largest opposition group in Parliament. She served as Chief of the National Police of Ukraine in 2015-2016 and as Minister of Education and Science in Georgia in 2012.

Source link

#Georgia #crossroads #European #integration #View