Georgia’s worst political crisis in years continues into 2025, following a year marked by mass protests, accusations of electoral fraud and the derailment, by the ruling Georgian Dream party, of the country’s European integration path.
Russia has also co-opted North Korea in the war against Ukraine and is stepping up its operations in Moldova and Georgia. Moscow seems to be preparing for a final showdown against the West.
The elections will be not only a struggle for power but also an important geopolitical event that will define the future of a country at a crossroads between the West and rapprochement with Russia.
Georgia’s de facto leader Bidzina Ivanishvili wants Tbilisi to apologize for the 2008 war Russia waged against his country. In return he promises Georgia’s reunification under a scenario that would benefit Moscow.
Tbilisi claims that oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili was targeted for assassination by a cabal that also tried to kill Donald Trump and Slovakia’s Robert Fico. Georgia’s opposition says this is nonsense.
Following the US announcement to review bilateral relations with Georgia, the EU announced the suspension of the country's accession to the European Union. The party of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili will no longer be able to use the successes of European integration in the upcoming parliamentary elections.