Is Tbilisi to become ‘color revolution’ capital again?
30.10.2024
0 3
The Georgian opposition has refused to admit election defeat amid Western calls for the country to return to the “Euro Atlantic path”
After the war
Since 2012, the Georgian Dream party has been the leading political force in the South Caucasus nation. The party retained a majority in the national legislature through three consecutive election cycles – in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
With relations with Moscow extremely strained after the 2008 war, Tbilisi initially continued to pursue pro-Western policies. In 2014, Georgia signed an association agreement with the EU. The country also made its EU and NATO membership aspirations part of its constitution under amendments that came into force in 2018.
In March 2022, it applied for EU membership and was granted candidate status, and received reform recommendations from Brussels in late 2023.
Over the years since 2012, Tbilisi has gradually steered away from the course set for it by Washington and Brussels. Georgia condemned Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine in 2022 but still took a more neutral stance on the conflict, refusing to join Western sanctions placed on Russia. Neither has it agreed to furnish any direct support to the combatants.
In 2023, Georgia also resumed direct air traffic with Russia after President Vladimir Putin lifted an air travel ban and visa regime with the South Caucasian nation imposed back in 2019. The move prompted Washington to threaten Tbilisi with sanctions.
Western governments have accused Georgia of democratic backsliding and warned that its recent policies could hamper the country’s aspirations to join the EU. In 2024, the Georgian Parliament approved laws that allow NGOs to be labeled ‘foreign agents’ and ban LGBTQ ‘propaganda’ to minors, both of which sparked protests. The US and its allies have since repeatedly demanded Tbilisi repeal “anti-democratic legislation,” as well as expressed their support for the protesters.