Salome Zourabichvili, the fifth President of Georgia, has sent a letter to European leaders urging “immediate action” in response to the ongoing political turmoil in her country.
The letter, part of her coordination with pro-European parties, highlighted three main reasons why Europe should intensify its focus on Georgia’s current crisis.
Zourabichvili’s letter emphasized the “alarming erosion of democratic institutions” in Georgia, pointing out that the ruling government was “undermining fundamental rights” that Europe had helped protect over the past two decades.
She warned that the country’s current trajectory, “influenced by a leader with ties to Russia”, risked transforming Georgia from an EU candidate nation into a satellite state of Moscow.
“The future of Georgia is at stake, as is the credibility of European foreign policy,” the former president wrote, stressing the importance of Europe’s involvement in defending Georgian democracy.
The letter also addressed concerns about Georgia’s sovereignty, with Zourabichvili framing the country’s political crisis as a product of Russian hybrid warfare.
She warned that “electoral manipulation” in last year’s parliamentary vote was being used as a “less aggressive tool by Moscow to regain influence over Georgia, similar to tactics seen in Ukraine and Moldova.”
She feared that a successful outcome in Georgia could encourage similar strategies in other European nations.
“Hybrid warfare, through electoral manipulation, creates a less aggressive image and fewer costs, paving the way for puppet governments,” Zourabichvili noted.
Zourabichvili further argued that Georgia’s fate could not be separated from Ukraine’s, especially regarding the ongoing conflicts in the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. She highlights the strategic importance of Georgia to Black Sea security, emphasizing that “it must not be overlooked in international discussions, particularly as the de facto Georgian government looks to engage China in the Anaklia port project.”
With protests having raged for four months following the Georgian Dream government’s decision last year to halt EU integration until 2028, Zourabichvili called for new elections as the “only peaceful way” out of the crisis. She stressed that high-level European and American mediation would be “essential” to facilitate this process.
She also urged European leaders to provide direct support to the most vulnerable segments of Georgian civil society, including “prisoners of conscience” arrested during the protests and independent media.
