EN|FR|RU
Follow us on:

Elections in Georgia: A Déjà-Vu Reaction From The West and Its Media

Ricardo Martins, November 07 2024

In a blunt act of foreign interference, the EU abandoned its traditional soft diplomacy and stated that Georgia’s membership is off the table unless it reverses its pro-Russia course.

Elections in Georgia: A Déjà-Vu Reaction From The West and Its Media

Politics are more polarising than ever, and Georgia is no exception. One side champions pro-Western liberal democracy, while the other leans towards pro-national, Central European, and conservative views.

The issue arises when those who lose elections refuse to accept the results. As usual, the blame falls on Putin. However, attributing every election’s outcome to Russia and Putin has become an automatic response and an overused excuse. Because of this overuse, it has lost its impact, and they are convincing fewer people even in the West.

The president’s defiance highlights the deep divisions within Georgian politics

Moreover, if this were true, it would make Russia and Putin the most powerful nation and person in the world, but that simply isn’t the case.

Georgia recounts the votes to please the Opposition and the West

Following the contestation of last weekend’s legislative election results, in which the Georgian Dream party secured 54.8% of the votes, Georgia’s electoral commission partially recounted the votes. The recount, which included approximately 12% of polling stations and 14% of the ballots, reaffirmed the victory of the ruling party, Georgian Dream. Despite accusations from the opposition that the election was “stolen,” the commission reported no significant change in the previously announced official results.

However, the country’s president Salomé Zourabichvili, a French national and daughter of Georgians living in Paris during the Cold War, maintains her accusations of a “sophisticated”, “Russian-style” system of fraud without presenting supporting evidence.

The recount showed only minor adjustments in about 9% of the reviewed polling stations. However, this has not silenced the President, who has distanced herself from the government. To make things worse, Zourabichvili refused to comply with a prosecutor’s summons on the ongoing investigation into the alleged electoral fraud. It was expected details of her accusations to substantiate the investigations, but she failed to do so, jeopardising the investigations.

The president’s defiance highlights the deep divisions within Georgian politics. Her rejection of the prosecutor’s summons suggests a refusal to acquiesce to the country’s law, which deepens the crisis.

The prosecutor’s office announced the opening of an investigation into the alleged legislative election falsifications, reflecting the broader tensions in Georgian society over its political direction and international alignment. The pro-European opposition continues to challenge the election results, underscoring the ongoing struggle between Eastern and Western influences in the region.

EU steps in and tells Georgia to distance itself from Russia

These elections were viewed as a critical test for Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union and NATO. While the Georgian Dream party maintains its commitment to these goals, allegations and suspicions of aligning the country closer to Moscow are not accepted by Brussels if Georgians want to pursue their EU membership.

The party, founded by Bidzina Ivanichvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, has made numerous hostile statements towards the West. The Georgia Dream party positions itself as the only bulwark to prevent Georgia from suffering the fate of Ukraine: a colour revolution, a civil war and an invasion.

To express that “their votes have been stolen, their future has been stolen,” Georgians have no choice but to protest, Zourabichvili told in an interview. She hopes for more support from the U.S. and the EU for the demonstrations. “We need firm support from our European and American partners,” she added, emphasizing it is in the interest of a “powerful Europe” to be present in the Caucasus and ensure regional stability.

According to EU leaders, Georgians should escape any external interference, yet Western or EU intervention is paradoxically supposed to be acceptable, as it is not considered to be an intervention. “Georgians, like all Europeans, must be masters of their own destiny,” stated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

In response, Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU accession process in protest, and the United States sanctioned Georgian officials for their “brutal repression” during the ensuing demonstrations. “Unless Georgia changes course” from its alignment with Moscow, the European External Affairs High Representative, Josep Borrel warned, it “will not be able to recommend the opening of negotiations” for EU entry, according to its annual enlargement report published this Saturday, November 30.

Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU membership process indefinitely because of a Russian-style “foreign influence law,” passed by the ruling party in June.

However, the law passed in Georgia is similar to that was adopted by the U.S., the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and actively prosecutes people for it. Not surprisingly, there were no reactions by the EU leadership to this American legislation, but coming from Georgia it is unacceptable.

In response to Borell, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidzé thanked the prosecutor’s office for deciding to initiate investigations and expressed his support for “the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell’s call to investigate all violations” of electoral rules. “The elections were entirely fair, free, competitive, and clean,” he insisted. However, the opposition party Strong Georgia sees Russia everywhere, in a statement, mocked an “absurd” investigation by the “prosecutor’s office controlled by Russia” on “a special Russian operation.”

In conclusion, the Georgian elections underscore a fragmented country, foreign influence accusations and the complexities of its geopolitical aspirations. As Georgia stands in the middle of a domestic polarised environment and externally amidst a geopolitical dispute, the outcome of these disputes will likely have profound implications for its future relationship with both European and neighbouring powers.

 

Ricardo Martins PhD in Sociology, specializing in policies, European and world politics and geopolitics, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”

More on this topic
US Election: dysfunctional people as presidential candidates who represent the ridiculous
Israeli Strikes Demonstrates Limits of Western Military Might
An unprecedented crisis in US society
Senegal—on the cusp of change? Part 2
On the US Elections 2024: From Atlanticists’ Supremacy Symbol to Hollow Circus