Georgia, Moving Away From the West, Unwillingly

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August 10, 2025

Roberta Campani

Communications & Outreach

Dear FO° Reader,

I’m still in Geneva, quietly going about life in this privileged city. At times, I daydream about living somewhere else. Say, the Argentinian Pampas? Granted, it wouldn’t work for me since I have no idea how to ride a horse or live in a place with very little infrastructure. Or how about some lush tropical island? I would be very clumsy and quickly fall ill, as I have no idea how to protect myself from insects or snakes. What I need is a place with an old civilization that keeps me alive, with little or no horse riding. And I would even appreciate learning a very ancient, beautifully written language.

Then, what would it be like to live somewhere where history is alive, it’s being made, and the place is at a crossroads today? Imagine Georgia, in the heart of the Caucasus, where empires met over millennia. Even as I write this, we could say that the tug of war between East and West is being played out daily in this ancient land. But, we can also question the very notions of East and West (on another Sunday).

Gergeti Trinity Church Tsminda Sameba, via Shutterstock

Georgia’s ancient roots — old vineyards, a 1,000-year-old alphabet and monasteries that have outlasted empires — make it unique. Geography has long dictated its fate. Wedged between Russia, Turkey and Iran, its dreams of NATO and EU membership clash with Moscow’s grip on breakaway regions like Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Yet for years, Tbilisi played its hand deftly — passing EU-backed reforms, courting Western investment and funneling Caspian gas to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor.

Georgia is home to a civilization that survived both the Persians and the Ottomans. This birthplace of Joseph Stalin also survived the Soviet Union. Today, Georgia is split between its people’s European dream and leaders flirting with Moscow’s orbit. As one protester’s sign read: “We know who we are — even if they forget.”

Rally on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue on Day 214 of non-stop protests, June 29, 2025. Photo: Nini Gabritchidze/Civil.ge

When and why did Georgia turn away from Euro–Atlantic integration?

In December 2023, the EU formally granted Georgia candidate status, but demands for judicial reform, civil society protections and democratic consolidation followed.

Source: Georgia – European Commission

Instead of progressing, Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party introduced a controversial “foreign agent” law in spring 2024 that required non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media receiving over 20% of foreign funding to register publicly. This law, seen as targeting dissent and civil society, triggered mass protests and widespread condemnation from the EU and the US.

As protests mounted, in late 2024 the government declared it would suspend EU accession talks until 2028, officially claiming Brussels had been “blackmailing” Tbilisi. That move accelerated the country’s tilt away from the West.

Source: Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law and Resulting Protests – Foreign Policy Research Institute

By April 16, 2025, a broader law was adopted mandating that all foreign grants require government approval, a move widely perceived as a deepening crackdown on civil society.

Source: Georgia’s parliament passes law restricting foreign grants to local groups | Reuters

These sources confirm that Georgia’s leadership shifted from visible progress toward EU integration to resisting Western conditionality, citing sovereignty and skepticism of external oversight. This stand-off with Brussels catalyzed mass protests — even as the public’s commitment to a European future remained strong — highlighting deep internal political divisions.

Autonomous Republics, Regions, Municipalities of Georgia, Wikicommons

What are Georgian citizens worried about?

EU support remains overwhelmingly popular amongst citizens: Surveys report up to 89% of Georgians favor EU membership. In contrast, the government’s suspension of talks is widely viewed as a betrayal of the constitutional and public commitment to Europe.

Source: Many thousands rally to oppose Georgian government after break with EU | Reuters

Since October 2024, nightly protests have demanded new elections, the release of political prisoners and the restoration of the EU path. Protesters say Georgia is “being stolen from its future.” Protestors have been active daily for the past 210 days!

Media repression and crackdown on civil society are front and center: Journalists like Mzia Amaghlobeli have faced arrest and hunger strikes, drawing ire from EU lawmakers and local media as evidence of shrinking press freedom.

Source: Repression of Georgian journalists shakes the EU Parliament – The New Union Post

The broader consequences of the shift

Economic alignment is visibly changing: Georgia’s trade with Russia surged (imports increased by over 79% in 2022), while remaining largely outside Western sanctions regimes. The Kremlin lifted travel restrictions and is deepening ties.

The government’s narrative increasingly frames the West as adversarial and Georgia as asserting “sovereign dignity” — echoing rhetoric from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and signaling implicit alignment with the Russian sphere.

Additional sources:

Playing With Fire: Georgia’s Cautious Rapprochement With Russia | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Opposition leader Nika Gvaramia jailed in Georgia amid deepening crackdown | Politics News | Al Jazeera

Let’s not forget that there are always many perspectives:

Remember at NATO Bucharest Summit Declaration (Apr 3, 2008)? This is what was said on that occasion:

“We agreed today that [Ukraine and Georgia] will become members of NATO,” but no MAP. Authoritative primary source: NATO

Here's a different perspective on what caused the current tensions between Russia and Georgia—one that emphasizes NATO expansion as a key factor. While the U.S. and allies framed their support for Georgia’s NATO aspirations as promoting democracy and security, critics argue that pushing membership despite Russia’s explicit red lines (as warned by then-Ambassador Bill Burns, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy) escalated tensions and contributed to the 2008 war. Some analysts suggest that Russia’s invasion was a preemptive strike against Western encroachment, rather than purely unprovoked aggression. This view highlights how great-power rivalries, on top of local dynamics, shape the conflict.

Source: Opinion | Is CIA Director Bill Burns a Biden Yes-Man, a Putin Apologist, or a Peacemaker? | Common Dreams

Source: Why Won't the US Help Negotiate a Peaceful End to the War in Ukraine? — Jeffrey D. Sachs Georgia’s story at the crossroads isn’t only about borders, treaties, or pipelines—it’s the daily negotiation between memory and aspiration. Human, political, and institutional realities are stubbornly complex: motives collide, perspectives multiply, and the very forces that enable action can also stall it. As Margaret Mead—and, in her own register, Ursula K. Le Guin—reminded us, rules and dogmas are made by people, and what is made can be unmade, especially from the margins. That’s why we have to look under the rug and a step beyond the headlines mainstream outlets keep on the surface. In Tbilisi’s streets, the message is plain enough: a country’s future is not settled by decrees or summit communiqués alone. Georgia’s destiny will be shaped — imperfectly, insistently — by its citizens’ will, contested and revised in public, rather than handed down from above.

Wishing you a thoughtful week,

Roberta Campani
Communications & Outreach

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