Frustration towards the European Union and the West, in general, increased in the political elite of Georgia after Brussels’ postponement to grant Georgia the status of an EU candidate country.
Four influential MP of the Georgian Dream (GD) Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili, Dmitry Khundadze, Guram Macharashvili, as well as several representatives of the ruling party in regional parliaments (sakrebulos) left GD and began to systematically and publicly criticize the policies of the West and the actions of European and American diplomats in Georgia. In opinion of «The Four Deputies», Brussels’ decision on Tbilisi’s EU membership was unfair and politically motivated. They accused the US Embassy of interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs.
According to the International Expert Platform organized by the SIKHA Foundation, this public conflict will be resolved and Georgia will maintain its current pro-Western foreign policy. The majority of the republic’s population favors the Euro-Atlantic vector of development. Integration into NATO and the EU is perceived as the civilizational choice of the Georgian people, which has no alternatives and «the need to return home to the family of European peoples».
At the same time, if in the medium and long term Brussels does not provide Tbilisi with real integration prospects, the supporters of the concept of Georgia as a «bridge between East and West, North and South» may strengthen their influence. In this case, can be expected a reorientation of Georgia’s policy towards a greater multi-vector approach and the development of interaction by non-Western players, such as China, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia. Normalization of relationships between Russia and Georgia most likely will continue on a pragmatic basis, primarily in the economic sphere. However, full restoration of broken political ties and reconciliation is possible only if the solution of the problem of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is acceptable to Georgia.
* After the publication of this paper, in September 2022, PM of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili declared the inadmissibility of further growth of anti-Western rhetoric and called for an end to the debate about the negative role of USA, which is a strategic partner of Georgia.