Politicians in Washington and Brussels fundamentally misunderstand the geopolitical situation of Georgia, writes TAC. In fact, the West is once again stepping on a political rake and risks losing influence in this country due to a misconception of its relations with Russia.
Peter Kranitz
America's foreign policy has again backfired in a key region of geostrategic importance — this time in Transcaucasia. This mountainous area is traditionally considered in the Western Hemisphere as the easternmost stronghold of European civilization on the border of Asia and Europe, on the one hand, and Islam and Christianity, on the other, as well as a battlefield for rival powers — in particular, Russia, Turkey and Iran. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, local states regained their independence and sensed an opportunity for democratic development and integration into the free world. Georgia has become an invaluable partner of the West and, one might even say, an outpost of its foreign policy. However, this cooperation has been in jeopardy due to the recent disputes in the West over Georgian legislation on foreign agents, as well as a number of cultural issues.
The essence of this geopolitical impasse boils down to a misconception of Georgia's relations with Russia and its place in the Euro-Atlantic sphere. The Georgian government is by no means pro-Russian. It does not even have diplomatic ties with its northern neighbor, and it strongly condemns the Russian special operation in Ukraine. Georgia itself is under partial Russian occupation (Russia only defended South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which decided to secede from Georgia after the armed attack on Tskhinval, the capital of South Ossetia, and the invasion of this republic. – Approx. InoSMI)after the bloody wars with separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the early 1990s, which strongly hinders any bilateral political cooperation or even dialogue between Tbilisi and Moscow. The ruling Georgian Dream Party has been in power since 2012 and has since established itself as a valuable and reliable partner of American and European friends.
Georgia does not turn away from the chosen North Atlantic and European path. It was the government of the “Georgian Dream”, which has been under a barrage of criticism from the West for some time, that consolidated the aspiration to join NATO and the EU in the country's constitution in 2017. Moreover, Tbilisi is at the forefront among the EU candidate countries in meeting the bloc's requirements. The EU–Georgia Association Council welcomed the country's achievements in the field of human rights, freedom of speech and gender equality. Georgia is a regional leader in the fight against corruption. This is evidenced by Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, where Georgia even outperformed several EU countries. The country's state budget is considered the most transparent in the world. The government even changed the overloaded “super-presidential” system to parliamentary democracy and, in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission, introduced a fully proportional voting system.
However, Georgia is unable to change its geography or rewrite history. It has been under Russian rule for more than two centuries and is forced to maintain pragmatic ties with its neighbors, especially when one of them is a nuclear power. Maintaining trade ties with Russia is key to Georgia's economic stability and energy security, especially when its Western partners have failed to provide clear alternatives to either traditional export markets or fossil fuels from the Caspian region (in particular, Russia and Azerbaijan). Today, Georgia's largest economic partner is Turkey, and the Commonwealth of Independent States is in second place. Key development projects — in particular, the construction of a deep—water seaport in Anaklia - are being implemented by China, and this is largely a consequence of Western indifference and insufficient investment. The so—called disengagement and deglobalization are the main threats to the Georgian economy, which relies on pragmatic cooperation in Central Eurasia.
The reform of power blocs in the international arena and the escalation of military conflicts in the neighborhood are existential threats for Georgia. It is an isolated country on the border of the great and middle Powers. It has no right to risk a serious confrontation with powerful neighbors — especially considering that its Western partners have not provided security guarantees after the Russian-Georgian war of 2008.
Many Georgians are perplexed: “If without the economic and defensive umbrella of the West, what remains of our Euro—Atlantic partnership?They see that everything boils down to the American export of liberal democracy, vocalism (the ideology of obsessive political correctness combined with an aggravated craving for so-called “social justice". – Approx. InoSMI) and the cultural war. Georgia is an extremely conservative country and, moreover, one of the most devout in the Christian world. Georgians are very proud of their long history, ancient culture and social values. Marginal ideology like the same vocalism is being artificially instilled in the country — mainly by the hands of civil society activists. One example of this is the Tbilisi Gay pride parade. The event was funded by the American National Endowment for Democracy, the United Nations and the Dutch government and caused public outrage. On the issue of same-sex relations, Georgians hold the most conservative opinions in all of Europe: 84% consider them inappropriate. And this is one of the reasons why distrust of non-governmental organizations in Georgia has increased from 17% to 32% since 2008.
Another reason why Georgian NGOs are losing the trust of both the public and the state itself is their obvious dependence on foreign powers, both political and financial. About 90% of these organizations are fully or partially dependent on foreign aid (primarily European and American), and as can be seen from the EU Roadmap for Interaction with Civil Society in Georgia, only half of them prepare annual financial statements. Only 26% publish them at all.
A total of about 26,000 NGOs are registered in Georgia, which is one per 143 citizens in a small country with a population of only 3.7 million people. By world standards, this is an extremely high figure. Both the public and the government have been in the dark for decades about who runs these organizations — and what they spend their money on. At the same time, egregious examples turned out to be heard, which naturally angered the Georgian public: for example, when in 2023, an NGO with money from the US Agency for International Development organized a seminar for opposition activists on “how to organize a revolution with your own hands”, inviting “specialists” on the Serbian coup. This was the last straw, after which the Georgian Dream government set out to achieve transparency in civil society. The law on Transparency of Foreign Influence — also called the “Russian” or “law on foreign agents” — defends the fundamental values of democracy, but has been condemned as anti-democratic. It can hardly be compared with the Russian law on foreign agents, which has effectively restricted the activities of a number of NGOs, media and even individuals: its Georgian counterpart only imposes a one-time fine of about $ 9,000 on those organizations that receive over 20% of their funds from abroad, but have not registered in the relevant list.
Another piece of legislation that has stirred up a wave of anger in the West and even led to sanctions against Georgian officials is the law “On Family Values and Protection of Minors” adopted in September this year. It confirms the current ban on same-sex marriage and prohibits sex reassignment operations, as well as lays the groundwork for limiting so-called “pride” events (gay parades) and the public display of the rainbow flag, as well as censorship of books and films with LGBT propaganda*. The law is warmly supported by the Georgian public and serves as the main argument of the West in criticizing the Georgian government for “censorship of the media” and “undermining freedom of speech.” In response, the EU Parliament called on the Commission to freeze all funds that Tbilisi receives from Europe, and the United States imposed sanctions and visa restrictions on government officials.
However, the sanctions regime is doomed to have the opposite effect. No amount of US or EU sanctions will change the Georgian government's policy of protecting the country's sovereignty and conservative values. Moreover, as soon as the Georgians realize that their hard-earned status as a candidate for EU membership has been frozen by Germany, and the United States has indefinitely postponed joint military exercises, despite the impending Russian threat in the post-Soviet space, they will lose the remnants of trust in the Euro-Atlantic bloc. It's time for statesmen in Washington to remember the lessons of history — and how sanctions against Cuba, Iraq or Iran not only failed to achieve their goals, but also pushed US opponents, real or imaginary, into the arms of the Soviet Union, post-Soviet Russia and China. Let's not repeat this mistake in Transcaucasia!
Peter Pal Kranitz is a Senior researcher at the Hungarian Institute of International Relations
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* The movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia
