The author wishes to note that this article was written some time ago, and while developments in Georgia have continued since then, its central arguments and concerns remain relevant.
On 27th of January 1999, Zurab Zhvania , a well-known Georgian politician, stated: “I am Georgian and therefore, I am European”. This simple phrase meant everything for a war-weary, fragmented and ravaged community. It may seem surprising how a single statement can revive long-lost hope in a society that has looked in Europe’s direction for centuries. Georgia’s relationship with Europe has long been marked by struggles that always appeared to be a shared and common neighbor from the north. To this day, pro-Russian Georgian governments seem to be the main issue that keeps the people away from their long-desired future, hopes and dreams. Today, a fragment of Zhvania’s words remains engraved on a commemorative star outside the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly building in Strasbourg. Yet, while the words remain, their meaning seems to be fading.
The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, has previously stated, "Following last year’s European Council conclusions that the Georgian government’s actions have de facto led to a halt of the accession process, and in light of Georgia’s continued backsliding on the fundamentals since then, the Commission considers Georgia a candidate country in the name only.” What does this mean for Georgians? What does the “Georgian Dream” look like now? And what do people have to say about it?
When the Georgian Dream party, hoping to keep all its promises, rose to power in 2012, they managed to defeat the incumbent with free and fair elections. Although the United National Movement introduced significant reforms, including anti-corruption measures and changes to the education system, its time in power was also marked by allegations and documented cases of police brutality and abuse in prisons. The Georgian people prevailed and elected the Georgian Dream Party with the idea in mind that they took a necessary step to the European future that was deeply needed and even encouraged by the most powerful law there is – the constitution (Article 78: “the constitutional bodies shall take all measures within the scope of their competence to ensure the full integration of Georgia into the European Union and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).”
The Georgian Dream slowly but surely turned into a Georgian nightmare. It became clear that government officials were abusing their power, leaning more on Russian influence and support. People who endured years of torture under the USSR regime never wanted to go back. Although, the party’s plan to bring the country closer to the enemy was subtle, insidious, decorated and wrapped in a bubble that was not so noticeable. Everything was covered up by a single statement that further alarmed trauma-worn and tired society – „We must maintain peace to avoid the war“. This simple yet harmful sentence scared the generation that had already lived through the USSR, civil war, the hardships of the 1990s, the „United National Movement“ ruling and now the Georgian Dream Party. Shared harrowing experiences and stories of war have been passed down from grandparents to grandchildren, planting the seed of fear and normalizing acceptance of the present through intimidation.
Normalization of the government visibly dragging the country closer to Russia reached its peak when the parliament introduced the Law of Transparency of Foreign Influence. This bill would require nongovernmental organizations, print, online and broadcast media that receive more than 20% of their annual revenue from “a foreign power” to register in the Ministry of Justice as “organizations serving the interests of a foreign power”. This was a clear attempt to shut down a voice of hope and change, this was an attempt to silence the people. In March, Georgian people gathered in the streets. During these two days, the walls between generations broke, people from different backgrounds united and individuals gathered to defend their homeland and democracy, which was crumbling right in front of their eyes. People showed up because no matter what the past looked like, they realized that they had had enough and had reached a breaking point. Following protests and international criticism, the government withdrew the bill.
In April of 2024, the Georgian Dream party reintroduced the bill and this time implemented it, ignoring the people's wishes and their urgent and fearless protests. Society felt deceived, neglected, misled and dismissed. This action of the government once again proved that whatever the northern neighbor demanded, the Georgian government would execute without question.
Another disappointment for the Georgian people was the 2024 elections. I, as a Georgian, remember looking at 26th of October, election day, as a final end to Georgia’s struggle to remain a democratic nation. I imagined it to be sensational, liberating and emotional. The elections served as a beacon of hope in a futile state. Many registered as election observers to monitor the process and ensure that no irregularities occurred. The people of the nation were getting ready for a glorious victory. Unfortunately, to no avail. Although voter ID and vote-counting devices mostly worked, many voters struggled to use them, which in some cases jeopardized the secrecy of the vote. IEOM observers noted overcrowding, signs of voter pressure and many procedural problems regarding the vote-counting devices. In many polling stations, party representatives filmed the process and monitored voters, raising further concerns about intimidation. During the counting process, officials often skipped required steps, mishandled unused ballots, failed to read votes aloud and applied inconsistent standards for deciding ballot validity. One of the most striking instances of election rigging involved video footage from Marneuli polling station No. 69, recorded around 12:30 PM on October 26; the video showed a man (unknown to the media at the time) stuffing ballots into the ballot box. The act was not even concealed; people quickly identified the individuals as the Deputy Chairman of the Marneuli City Council and his brother. Due to the uncoordinated nature of the action and the fact that they were caught in the act, a briefing regarding the incident had to be held on election day. Meanwhile, Mamuka Mdinaradze, a leader of the "Georgian Dream" party, blamed this "minor incident" on the "United National Movement” party. Against this backdrop, Georgian Dream won another term amid allegations of intimidation, electoral irregularities and unfulfilled political promises.
Now people are protesting unfair and ruthless imprisonment of protesters, the silence of the media, various anti-EU laws, the prime minister postponing the relations with the EU until 2028, the parliament introducing a bill that prohibits emigrants to vote, etc. The people are desperately yet dignifiedly looking for a symbol of hope. In the haze of uncertainty, it is very hard to do this, however as a Georgian, I believe that we must try. We have to oppose the current government, defend democracy, educate ourselves to be the voice of change and even though it may take time, we must persist in order to proudly and assuredly say: “I am Georgian and therefore I am European”
