'Russia is trying to bring us back into its orbit,' claims the former head of state.
The first woman president in the history of Georgia and one of the opposition leaders, Salome Zurabishvili, stated in an interview with RFI that the current government in the country is 'worse than a dictatorship' and warned that the methods of Russian influence tested in Georgia could be directed against other states as well. A day before a large-scale mobilization of the opposition, she emphasized: 'The Kremlin is waging a full-scale psychological war against Europe.' According to her, the only way for Georgia is to return the country to its European future: 'Our country simply has no other future.'
Salome Zurabishvili, President of Georgia from 2018 to 2024 and today one of the most influential figures in the Georgian opposition, stated in an interview with RFI that the current pro-Kremlin government in Tbilisi is 'worse than a dictatorship' and warned that the methods of Russian influence honed in Georgia could be transferred to other European states. She was in the Paris studio of our radio on the eve of another large-scale mobilization of the opposition in Georgia and abroad — in two dozen capitals and major cities around the world, including Paris and London.
For a year now, the Georgian opposition has been contesting the results of the 2024 parliamentary and presidential elections, considering them to be falsified. The protests on November 28 were also a reaction to the decision made by the new authorities a year ago to freeze the process of Georgia's Euro-integration until 2028. During this time, criminal cases have been initiated against several opposition leaders, and dozens of activists have faced detentions and pressure from law enforcement agencies.
'Our state is effectively captured by Russia through the current proxy regime. Our country is in the process of occupation. Yes, part of Georgia is already occupied, but today the line of occupation runs along the central avenue of Tbilisi — along Rustaveli Avenue, where people take to the streets every day. It has been three hundred sixty-four days, and tomorrow it will be three hundred sixty-five. The population is demonstrating every day to say: we are not going to put up with this.'
'The situation is extremely difficult: we are forced to fight on two fronts simultaneously. It resembles France during the time of Pétain — when there was a proxy regime inside and totalitarian power pressing from the outside. Against Ukraine, Russia is waging a real classical war. Against Georgia — a hybrid one. And Georgia has become a kind of testing ground for such a war — one that can be applied to any other state tomorrow.
'Russia is trying to bring us back into its orbit — just as it seeks to bring Ukraine back. There, it is through military means. The Russian objectives have been stated openly: to take Kyiv, change the regime, 'cleanse' the country — this is old Soviet vocabulary.
In the case of Georgia, supposedly 'peaceful methods' are being employed. The slogan of 'peace' is constantly exploited — we are in pure Orwellian logic. But the goal is the same: to restore control over the region without the need for direct military occupation of the territory.'
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