As the country heads into 2026, it is likely to see further authoritarian moves from the ruling Georgian Dream; at the same time, resistance to the government and the protest movement are not likely to go anywhere.
A BBC investigation alleged that the Georgian government used World War 1 chemical weapons against anti-government protesters. The Tbilisi government claimed that the allegations are part of a hybrid war waged against it.
An anti-corruption campaign targeting former high ranking Georgian officials may hide a drive by Georgia’s eminence grise, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, to get rid of associates that have become too ambitious.
The ruling Georgian Dream party won, by a landslide, yet another round of elections in Georgia. The elections took place against a background of democracy backsliding, and increasing harassing of a fractured opposition.
Georgia’s leaders mimicked Donald Trump’s rhetoric hoping to reset the relationship with the US, which was damaged due to Tbilisi’s democratic backsliding. However, Washington didn’t buy it.
Amid a meltdown of relations with the EU and the US, the ruling Georgian Dream is blaming the country’s former rulers for the 2008 war. The move is also seen as an attempt to eliminate the pro-European opposition.
For four months, Georgians have been protesting daily against the abandonment of the European path by a government seen as pro-Russian. The increasingly harsh response of the authorities has failed to deter the protesters.
After its anti-democratic and anti-Ukrainian blunders compromised its relations with the West, the Georgian Dream hopes to be able to "reset" its relations with the US, now that it is led by Donald Trump.
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.
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.
The South Caucasus has a strategic position between Asia and the Black Sea, but its stability – and prosperity – are blocked by the three powers vying for influence there: Russia, Turkey and Iran.
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.
Against the backdrop of a crisis in Georgia's relations with the West, Tbilisi is increasing ties with China, which is now building a strategic deep water port on the Black Sea.
Though most Georgians support Euro-Atlantic integration, the ruling Georgian Dream forced a Russian-inspired law to silence civil society and is increasingly critical of the West. Georgia's EU partners are warning that the law will hinder the country's path to European integration, while the United States is talking about revising bilateral relations and introducing personal sanctions against Georgian officials.
Georgia could restrict the rights of the LGBT community. The move would hinder the country’s European integration.
With elections looming this year, Georgia’s éminence grise, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, returned to politics. Shortly after that, a new, pro-Russian premier was appointed.
A scandal regarding an icon depicting Stalin in Tbilis’s main cathedral brought into spotlight efforts by pro-Russians and Russian propaganda to revive the cult of the former dictator. Following protests against the icon, the ruling Georgian Dream, which claims to be committed to Euro-Atlantic integration, unveiled Russian-inspired plans to criminalize religious insults.
Georgia was granted EU candidate country in late 2023, but it needs to undertake a number of reforms before the actual negotiations would start. The European Council’s decision came following a complicated year, when the ruling Georgian Dream was faced with criticism from the West and domestic turmoil for what were perceived as pro-Russian and authoritarian policies. Veridica spoke with the co-founder of the Center for Strategic Analysis (GSAC), former Georgian Ambassador to Russia Valery Chechelashvili about how the events of 2023 could affect the future of Georgia, considering the fact that 2024 is an election year.