Graduated from the Faculty of Journalism, Tbilisi State University. Since 2019, I have been working at the Russian-language Georgian publication Sova. I collaborate as a freelancer with the Meduza publication. I write about social, political and cultural issues.
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 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.
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.
The dismantling of the Nagorno Karabakh republic was the most important change in the South Caucus since Turkey (re)emerged as a powerhouse there. More changes might follow.
A battle between the people and the [ruling Georgian Dream] Party is being fought on the streets of Georgian cities. The stake: Georgia’s path towards the EU vs. a return to Russia’s orbit.
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.
Donations
Veridica.md