In the wake of so many other extraordinary events that have erupted over the past few months, the wave of anti-government protests that have gripped Georgia have struggled to gain global attention. The outbreak of public rage began in Tbilisi, after the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in the country’s disputed elections in October. But protests have now spread to smaller towns around the country due to the government’s subsequent suspension of Georgia’s European Union accession process and open attacks on the rule of law.
The fight to stop Georgian Dream, funded by billionaire former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, from dismantling the foundations of a European democracy now hangs in the balance. But beyond Georgia’s borders, the current standoff underscores how much the survival of free societies depends on the struggle to sustain hope for a better future.
For those trying to sustain Georgia’s mass protests against a government run by secretive oligarchs with strong links to Russia, the challenges posed by open police repression on one hand and an internally divided opposition on the other have become more daunting as the number of protesters has grown. Efforts to mobilize public anger outside urban areas are hampered by government intimidation, but also by lingering memories of recurring scandals and police violence when the largest opposition party—the United National Movement, or UNM—was in power in the 2000s and early 2010s. With the devastation unleashed by Russia’s current war against Ukraine serving as a reminder of the Russia-Georgia war in 2008, fears that the Kremlin-friendly government’s fall could lead Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch yet another invasion to “defend” Georgia’s secessionist regions under Moscow’s “protection” have also played into Georgian Dream’s hands.