Artis Drēziņš, Tbilisi-Rīga/ Latvijas Avīze
Now, the biggest divide between the government and the people is over the European Union.
In the first part of the article, two academics from the same university – Sokhumi State University – gave different perspectives on what is happening in Georgia. Professor Zurab Khonelidze, the reserved supporter of the Georgian Dream, believes that Georgia’s independence and the occupied territories can only be regained in cooperation with Russia and that a controlled chaos is now being purposefully created. On the other hand, the opposing Doctor of History and Professor Zurab Papaskiri is convinced that the Georgian Dream came with Soviet thinking, but only by inertia has it kept moving towards the West.
Georgia to be even more isolated from the West
What will happen if nothing changes? Zurab Papaskiri, Head of the Research and Development Department at Sokhumi State University, Doctor of History and Professor, believes that Georgia will become more and more isolated internationally from the political processes of the Western world: “Processes have already started in various institutions, sanctions are being introduced, projects are being suspended. Who in the West needs a country with only one real-working party in Parliament and political prisoners? And we used to be proud of being the most pro-European country in the region… Now Armenia has become one, as it has started to cooperate with the US – and Moscow is now very worried about this.
I think that the Georgian Dream wants to hold the current situation until May so that they can call new parliamentary elections in the autumn.
The current Parliament is not able to function fully, it is weak, unable to gather a constitutional majority, dealing with routine issues because the opposition has decided not to work in it. In 2020, there was a similar situation, but Europe forced the opposition to work in Parliament. Now, however, the situation is different and the Western world is pointing in the opposite direction. In general, the Western world has not recognised either the Parliament or its elected President. Thanks to the Baltic states, Poland, the Czech Republic, which are actively supporting the Georgian opposition – it is no wonder, because you know best what Russian pressure means,” Zurab Papaskiri comments.
The professor has never felt pressure from the government for his political stance. His son, also a professor, was a parliamentary candidate from the opposition, but never made it to Parliament, and almost every night, he appears on television criticising the Georgian Dream. Another thing is that the police have often overstepped their powers, for example, hitting people who have fallen down at rallies for no reason, who have been declared victims, but no one has been convicted.
Zurab Papaskiri recalls that Mikheil Saakashvili once fairly lost an election precisely because he was used to power, the police got away with too much because they knew that the government would cover up. “I was a Mikheil Saakashvili supporter, but when he lost the election in 2012, I thought – good, he has been a little too settled, he has lost his self-criticism…
Power in a democracy has to change regularly, otherwise we are facing the fate of Belarus. Georgians do not want that. The Baltic states are our role models,”Zurab Papaskiri tells me at the end of the interview.
Journalists must keep their opinions to themselves
Revaz is a well-known Georgian public media journalist. His workplace has an editorial policy: journalists should give the floor to politicians, but keep their opinions to themselves as much as possible. We agree that, to keep the conversation free and to avoid him having to worry about every word, I will not mention his real name and the specific media organisation. How would he describe the current political situation?
“When the Prime Minister said on 28 November that Georgia was suspending its course towards the European Union, massive street protests started. This is also understandable, because polls show that 80% of Georgians are pro-European. It was a stupid move by the Prime Minister – when he then made the excuse that he was misunderstood, nobody listened any more. Two days after the rallies, immediately after the elections, the streets were empty, but then the riots began again with a vengeance. This is a sensitive matter for us. There are never protests about anything as big as protests against moving towards the European Union – not about pensions, not about low salaries, not about any sensitive social issues. The masked policemen were very aggressive, beating people, including journalists, picking them up in the street and arresting them without any reason.
Two months have passed and there is no one to blame for the beatings, but the Minister of the Interior received an award because the police acted according to European standards.
Most of those detained without real charges are still in prison, only a few have been released. This is a stone in the field of prosecution and justice,” said the journalist.
He does not believe the opposition’s claim that 300 000 votes were stolen because there is no proof. Yes, there were some irregularities, but not so big that he believes the West would have a reason not to legitimise the elections and demand new elections.
Failing to see how the government can resolve the crisis
“I have the feeling that the West is in torment with us, not always feeling or wanting to feel the details. I remember the first four years of Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency were a time of reform and hope, but after that the political power and bureaucracy became more and more brazen, there were political shenanigans, corruption, it was more and more frightening to speak out, we were not allowed to film the court proceedings, there were no acquittals, there were unsolved murders, but the West did not turn away. I do not want to idealise the current government, but at least people are not afraid to speak out in the streets and workplaces.
Now, the biggest problem is that the government and the people do not understand each other on the issue of the European Union. I have a lot of questions about that, too, and I do not see how the current government can resolve this political crisis.
Our greatest political friends and examples in Europe now are the Prime Ministers of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, and Slovakia, Robert Fico, and in the world, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, which is also enough of a message, good company, is it not? I really do not understand the muddled rhetoric of our government on the European Union. I do not see a good way out of this political crisis, because for the time being the government says there will be no new elections,” the journalist predicts.
The Georgian Dream threatened with war
The Georgian Dream has also done a lot to turn the West against itself, for example, before the elections there was loud rhetoric: if we do not stay in power, there will be war in Georgia, because there is a “global war party” in the West which, together with our opposition, wants to open a second war front against Russia, as the US Ambassador to Georgia is reported to have said in back-room talks with people in our government. But Revaz, as a journalist, wants to see proof of this. There is none – just plain propaganda for now. But the people are sensitive, after all, they have recently been through two wars, occupation of two territories and bloodshed. The opposition is not eager to fight Russia either.
Revaz also criticises the opposition, which in fact had no election campaign and no clear leaders. That is why the rallies after the elections are chaotic, silent, without leaders and without clear, precise objectives and programmes. It feels like the opposition is waiting to see what the West will say or even do for them.
One or two opposition leaders do try to take the initiative, but without much success – most of them are already sufficiently dirty, either under Mikheil Saakashvili or in public administration – when they speak, people turn around and walk away.
We need new faces. But where to get them if the country has basically had no educational reforms since the collapse of the USSR, if the younger generation has a poor understanding of how the state works? – asks Revaz.
How free is the media?
shop windows, every now and then there are reports of cases against journalists. In January, Mzia Amaglobeli, a well-known Georgian journalist and founder of the Batumelebi and Netgazeti websites, was detained and imprisoned. Mzia Amaglobeli was first arrested for posting stickers calling for a national strike. Then she was released, but later arrested a second time. The accused says that the police officers were rude, which led to an accidental confrontation with the Batumi city police chief. The journalists demanded that Mzia Amaglobeli be released. The assault on the police officer can lead to a prison sentence of four to seven years.
“It is not ideal, but in the big picture I do not see a problem. Yes,
before the elections the authorities demanded that public television should not invite opposition leaders, so there were no debate programmes. It is bad, of course, but at the same time we do not have a culture of debate – people shout at each other and do not listen,
there are politicians who refuse to come. After the elections, public television is available to the opposition; at the end of last year, during the large rallies, there was a special programme every evening where the opposition could delegate its own person. Both the government and the opposition have their own TV channels, portals, newspapers, radio.
Of course, each of us has its own internal censorship. When the police beat up the journalist, public television also had a story about it, albeit posted seven hours late, but it was still posted and nobody got beaten up about it. In Mikheil Saakashvili’s time, this would not have been possible, and then one was not even allowed to run after a minister with a microphone. I even think that the public media is the most free now, because we reflect different points of view. You see, if the media is controlled by either political force, it is much harder to be objective,” the journalist explains.
We do not want war
Makvala Gonashvili, poet and Head of the Georgia Writers Association, points out that fate has given Georgia a special geographical position. Alongside Russia, with its aggressive tendencies, there is no stable European country that can support Georgia.
Photo by Artis Drēziņš
“In 2008, little Georgia was left alone against the big Russia in a war, the Western world expressed concern – oh, how we hate that word now! – and we lost territory. Yes, the current government does not have an aggressive rhetoric against Russia, so many Western non-governmental organisations have reduced their interest in us, but this does not mean that we have changed our attitude towards Russia and turned our backs on Europe.
The Georgian Dream won the elections because Georgians have seen what is happening in Ukraine for the third year now. We do not want to experience that because Georgia has a sad history, both recent and past.
The world is on the brink of change – the outcome of the war in Ukraine will determine the fate of the region and of Georgia. Also Donald Trump’s policies, which I am not thrilled about. I see that democracy is giving way to power in the world. And I do not see Europe flexing its muscles – unlike the US, China, India and even Russia. I think the situation should clear up a bit by the summer, at least the trends. Europe is in danger of becoming a likeable place to live over time. The only question is whether Georgia will have a place there too, and how it will be affected by all the geopolitical changes that await us,” says the poet.
She wants to reassure Latvians who may see the Caucasian fierceness, shouting, and quick action between political rivals on television, but Georgians have the same blood, will give each other a hand in times of need, and can unite for one goal.
Georgians want democracy
Elguja Gvazava, Doctor of Biology, Member of the Georgian Parliament (1992-2004), Chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia (2009-2019), explains to me that many sectors in the country need to be reformed to get into the European Union. Not only because Georgia is the cradle of Europe, but above all because Georgians want democracy.
“I have no great illusions about the older generation leaders of the current opposition. New leaders must take their place. The main thing for me – no bloodshed! I am not the only one who thinks so in Georgia.
The Russian army is 30 kilometres from Tbilisi, we are not in NATO. Look, Donald Trump decided to take Greenland. Putin is probably thinking now – if the US can do something like this, what am I doing here with Georgia? I am from Abkhazia, occupied by the Russians, and I have experienced Russian “love”. I do not want that again,” admits Elguja Gvazava.
Now the government does not interfere in business
The streets of Tbilisi are filled with food deliverymen on scooters, just like in Riga. The quality and quantity of vehicles do not suggest that Georgia is in a deep economic hole either. The roads are certainly better than in Riga. Traffic is more aggressive than here, but polite to each other. Lots of honking, both angry and thankful, and when giving way, which is confusing. During several days I never saw an accident. Getting around in Tbilisi is certainly cheaper than here. Petrol costs just over a euro, a taxi ride, if called with an app, 30-50 euro cents per kilometre and arrives literally within minutes. A taxi driver can earn up to EUR 800 in the good tourist months, half that or even less in the winter. A metro ride is around 30 euro cents.
Georgians complain about low salaries – the minimum wage in budget and municipal institutions is GEL 600, or EUR 200 after tax, per month, and middle and higher salaries are not great either,
for example for a university vice-rector – just over EUR 1000 per month. Pensions are mostly EUR 100-150.
A normal three-star hotel starts at EUR 30 per night. Bread costs between 30 cents and a euro a loaf. Good meat is not cheap: EUR 7-10 per kilo. Potatoes – around 70 cents per kilo, sugar the same. A hamburger – less than two euros. A three-course lunch in an average café – from EUR 12. Of course, the cheapest Georgian wine is cheaper than ours, and it is real, straight from the producers, not re-poured somewhere in Bulgaria or elsewhere – you can buy a good one for EUR 2.5-3 a bottle in a shop. But what is happening to the Georgian economy?
Vladimir Basaria, Academic Doctor of Economics, considers himself politically neutral. When it comes to the 1990s – the early years of Georgia’s independence – he reveals nothing new: it was a difficult time economically, with corruption at all levels, from the station cashier to any minister.
Later, Mikheil Saakashvili successfully tackled corruption at the lower and middle levels, but those close to his political power and the highest levels of the civil service made money on everything.
The motivation of entrepreneurs was low because they realised that they could not do business freely, someone had to pay something, someone could take the business away, even using notaries and financial police who could come at night and offer a choice – either give the business away or go to prison. Small business was less affected, but big business and investment were under enormous pressure from the state and the authorities – only those close to power could make big money. The economy stagnated, gross domestic product grew by 1-2% a year, which was nothing for the small Georgian economy.
Photo by Artis Drēziņš
But the Georgian Dream is no longer pressing the economy, it is no longer picking the pockets of businessmen and it is not dragging them to the prosecutor’s office for no reason. Nor does it regulate the flow of goods to one country or another for political reasons, as in Mikheil Saakashvili’s time. As a result, in 2024, gross domestic product grew by 9%, which is very good.
Trouble with monopolies, education, self-employed
“However, the big problem of the Georgian economy has been and still is monopoly. For example, in the banking sector we have two monsters: Georgian and Tbilisi banks. So we have a faltering stock market, insurance, expensive mortgages – around 13-16%. Tell me, how can we compete? The Georgian Dream does not talk about this either, the subject is closed. Why, I do not know,” says Vladimir Basaria.
But the government has achieved something – for example, medicines are no longer three times as expensive as in neighbouring Türkiye, which is purely as a result of monopoly.
The poor higher education system and the resulting shortage of professionals in many sectors are also dragging down the economy. “We have always had and continue to have a diploma mania. In 2017, auditors examined three major public universities. The results – 72% attendance, but 92% of students receive diplomas. The government is thinking about how to fix this situation, but nothing concrete has been decided yet. How to change the norm that paying money for studies guarantees a diploma?” continues the Academic Doctor of Economics.
The huge number of self-employed people – 60% of the working population – should also be reduced. This is due to the small share of industry in the economy, although there is progress – for example, in 2012 mining production was 130 million dollars, in 2024 – 525; in the chemistry sector – 127 and 400 respectively; in clothing production – 31 and 200. Unemployment is 18%, which is not much for Georgia – it was much worse seven years ago. In recent years, the people have breathed a little.
“I hope Georgia will not have to wait long to join the European Union.
Yes, Georgia is not a simple country, it has its own geopolitical situation, we have problems, including in the economy, which I have already mentioned. It is clear that we will lose some of our rights and advantages, just as Latvia did in the past. We do not accept a number of liberal norms imposed by Europe, but you will not find three Georgians in the whole of Georgia who want full integration into Russia. We want to be in Europe, just do not dictate to us exactly how to live. We already lived in one such union – the USSR. Thank you, but we do not want to go back to that system again. I hope everything will work out,” Vladimir Basaria concludes the interview.
