"The West will support Georgia as long as the people fight for democracy" - opinion
What protesters in Georgia need to win
The European Union and the West as a whole will support Georgia as long as the people continue to fight for democracy, according to Kakhaber Gogolashvili, director of the Center for European Studies.
Earlier, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated that the Georgian government must return to the European path, otherwise the country’s EU integration process will inevitably stall.
“People of Georgia, stay strong, fight for European values – we are counting on you,” Kos said.
Commentary
Director of the Centre for European Studies, Kaka Gogolashvili: “It’s simple: the European Union and the West in general will support Georgia as long as the people are fighting for democracy.
And what does the ruling Georgian Dream party intend to do in this context? Suppress all resistance so that the democratic aspirations of the people have no chance.
They believe that then Europe and America will begin to consider a new strategic approach to Georgia, similar to that of Azerbaijan.
They believe that then Europe and America will begin to consider a new strategic approach to Georgia, modeled after Azerbaijan.
In their view, this new approach will prioritize geostrategic benefits for the European Union and, therefore, the continuation of economic cooperation with the country.
For Georgian Dream, an example of this is the format of relations that the European Union is developing with Azerbaijan and the Central Asian countries.
However, let’s not forget that Georgia is an official EU candidate country, and such a shift in relations would not be easy politically. It could weaken the European Union itself by undermining global trust and respect toward it.
How should the Georgian people interpret Marta Kos’ message?
As a call to keep the protest movement alive — but to make it more focused and results-oriented. To make the protest more “flexible,” allowing more space for European institutions to engage.
The current protests, which are largely detached from the formal political process and take the form of civic resistance or disobedience, cannot ensure active Western involvement — apart from individual sanctions against those harming democracy.
I believe the right path is to consolidate the protest around more realistic goals that can be achieved in the near future, including:
- Forcing Georgian Dream to ensure a fair environment for the local elections;
- Launching a broad, coordinated opposition campaign to win those elections.”
What demands can and should be made?
- Release political prisoners (even if they are pardoned by the government-appointed president, the result is what matters in this case);
- Repeal laws that restrict democratic freedoms, as well as cancel all unjust fines, administrative penalties, etc., stemming from these laws;
- Reform the electoral legislation and restore its democratic nature;
- Reinstate state funding withheld from parties that passed the electoral threshold in 2024, regardless of whether they recognized the parliamentary elections as legitimate. This is necessary for effective election campaigns ahead of the municipal elections;
- Immediately begin negotiations between representatives of the united opposition and the Georgian Dream team on the above issues;
- Ensure the participation of European institutions in the negotiation process.
It is extremely important that citizen protests remain fully focused on achieving these demands and that there is complete unity among the protesting electorate, political parties, and the international community.
I believe all other paths to Georgia’s victory are much longer and fraught with dangers.
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