The country, which is partially occupied by Russia, will hold elections on Saturday that could determine the future of all of Europe.
12:02•Updated 13:54
Parliamentary elections will be held in Georgia on Saturday, the outcome of which may affect whether the European region becomes yet another country in Russia’s pocket.
An expert in international politics of Hanna Smith according to the election victory of the Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for 12 years, would freeze the country’s democratic development. Smith works in Vienna as a senior strategic advisor to the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
– We have already seen that such authoritarian trends are in power in Georgia. Then it means that Georgia’s approach to the West, the EU and NATO will stop, Smith says in ‘s morning.
in Georgia most of the people would like the country to join the EU and be a stronger part of the West, but the pro-Russian administration is pulling the country towards Russia’s sphere of influence. Many fear that the dream of the EU will turn into the fate of Belarus.
For many young people, the values represented by the EU and the West are a matter of the heart. They would like to travel and study in Europe and to make the country independent, also on a spiritual level, from the world view and legal concepts represented by the Russian regime.
A copy of the Russian law showed the direction of the country
According to Smith, Georgia has failed to build democracy since the country gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
One example of authoritarian development is the so-called “law on foreign agents”, which the administration passed last summer despite huge protests. Under the law, all media and organizations that receive foreign funding can be interpreted as foreign agents.
In practice, the law prevents many non-governmental organizations from operating and thus limits citizens’ influence and freedom of expression. According to Smith, the purpose of the law is also to polarize and isolate, for example, political activists.
– Those who think differently than the ruling party, they become foreign agents, they are suspicious, says Smith.
The law is a copy of a similar law in Russia. Passing the law against the rule of law froze Georgia’s EU path, which the country became a candidate for membership only about half a year earlier.
Haavisto: There is already a new iron curtain in Europe
An election victory for the Georgian Dream party would likely continue Georgia’s rapprochement with Russia and further strengthen dividing lines within Europe.
Congressman Pekka Haaviston (green) says that a similar iron curtain that divided Europe into two parts during the Cold War has partially descended on Europe. According to him, the dividing line was created when some of Russia’s allies decided to support Russia after the country attacked Ukraine.
– Yes, this is a very long division into two that follows, Haavisto says in the morning of .
However, according to Smith, the dividing line is not only a bad thing.
– The fact that the iron curtain will come, then we will get back to a situation where some are on one side, others on the other side. That’s when democracies usually get stronger, when that line starts to become clearer, he describes.