Georgia – a country at a crossroads

One can only be torn. On the one hand, while we are in Georgia with the German Council on Foreign Relations (DAGP), tens of thousands of people have been on the streets for over a month protesting against the law “on foreign agents”. It was passed on May 28 against all protests, even though President Salome Zurabishvili had vetoed it. On the other side, there has so far only been a battle between two oligarchs, each fighting for power and each making good money from dealing with Russia. China is also an important economic partner. The country has taken over the construction of new infrastructure projects – investing heavily in roads and in a new, unnecessary airport costing billions.

It is therefore difficult to decide where you belong in Georgia. Every decision is a directional decision, every decision has consequences. It is encouraging that so many people in the country do not support the controversial law on the control of media and NGOs. As in Russia, organizations that receive at least 20 percent of their funding from abroad must register. This also applies, for example, to an educational NGO that offers dialog skills, professional training and the like. This would actually be the responsibility of the state. The organization receives 50 percent of its funding from the EU. It would also be declared a foreign organization and could therefore be controlled or even banned by the state.

CONTROVERSIAL “AGENT LAW”

Many NGOs refuse to register. Then you could end up like Memorial in Russia, which lost its house, its archive, its accounts – simply everything – and was banned. There has been such an organization in Georgia for ten years: SOVLAB (Laboratory for the Study of the Soviet Past). It researches Soviet history and has created archives. It is admirable work. And they are also part of the opposition.

Although – there is no organized opposition in the country. Yet elections are due in October. What is needed is a charismatic person who can challenge one of the oligarchs. The former head of government – also an oligarch – is in prison. The current one has gone into hiding and gave a bizarre speech full of accusations against the West on April 29, suggesting that he is moving closer to Russia.

Although Georgia was granted candidate status for the EU in December 2023, the government is not doing much to meet the EU’s standards. The “agent law” is an example of this. Although 70 percent of people in the country claim that they are oriented towards Europe, at the same time there is this Russia-friendly government, which was elected by a majority.

Georgia is small: three and a half million inhabitants (as many as the city of Berlin) on an area the size of Bavaria and with many mountains. There are also the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which formally belong to Georgia but are separate territories and are occupied/controlled by Russia. There is an EU mission that monitors the borders and ensures that they remain relatively calm. It even goes so far as to rescue cattle that have strayed to the wrong side of the border.

WHAT ARE THE ECONOMIC PROSPECTS FOR GEORGIA?

Two products stand out: wine and copper. The German winegrower Hilarius Pütz, for example, produces wonderful fine wines in large clay pots in the ground in the old Georgian tradition. The special thing is that the vines, including their woody stems, are completely filled into these clay vessels and fermented and stored there without any additives. The winegrowers here produce for quality and the wine tastes wonderful. It is very digestible and also suitable for fatty foods.

An interesting industrial fact is that copper accounts for 22 percent of exports from Georgia. In the Hotel Iota in Tbilisi, where we stayed, I noticed that all the fittings and flower pots were made of copper. Copper is a sought-after commodity at the moment. It is particularly needed for electromobility, wind turbines, batteries, etc.

We have learned that many large winegrowers have already switched to organic production because they see it as a development prospect. And with copper as a raw material, the country also has a pledge in hand. However, political currents could hinder foreign trade with the West. Georgia’s Orthodox Church is influential and loyal to the state (or even to Russia). Like the Russian church, it is very anti-liberal, even anti-European (?). There is also a fight against the LGBT community, and further laws against them are in the works.

A RAY OF LIGHT FOR TRANSRELIGIOUS COOPERATION?

On the other hand, there is a model of a very tiny church that unites Christians, Muslims and Jews. That is also a bad sign: Of the 150,000 Jews that existed in Georgia around 20 years ago, only 3000 remain. Muslims still make up around 10 percent of the population. The small peace community brings together the liberal forces of Christians, Jews and Muslims who are committed to peace and cooperation. A beautiful example, a small ray of hope.

Reverence for Stalin is still immense in Georgia: the museum in Gori is the most visited in the country. And there are twelve new Stalin statues throughout the country that have been re-erected. Stalin is revered as a child of the country. Incidentally, it is also claimed in Georgia that the Second World War only began in 1941. In the Stalin Museum we discover that conflicts are not described. The houses around Stalin’s birthplace were demolished in 1937 to build the museum. Only his small house was covered with a temple-like building.

So as we set off on our journey home, the question remains: where is Georgia heading? Many young people are committed to a Georgia in Europe with European values. But since the country has always been pushed back and forth between the fronts and the people who earn big money are obviously doing it with Russia, I see the prospects for EU entry as rather subdued. But who knows: in Germany, a great collective will led to a peaceful revolution in 1989. I hope for the committed people who sing the European anthem every day on Peace Square that their wish for a life with Western values will come true and that political commitment will pay off.

Please find here the website of the DGAP