For some time now, Georgia has been engaged in a tug-of-war between its staunchly pro-Western society and the ruling. Georgian Dream coalition government, which has become increasingly authoritarian and anti-Western.
This stark divide has often led to large
Anti-government protests, with Georgian society expressing a preference for the country’s membership of the EU and NATO, supporting Ukraine, and constantly opposing
Russian influence in the small Black Sea Free Telemarketing Leads nation. For decades, the Georgian people have consistently expressed their pro-Western views: recent polls show that 88% of Georgians support EU membership, with only 10% opposed. 75% support NATO membership, with 20% opposed.
This is not the first time that the Georgian government
Has gone against the will of the people. In early 2023, the government also tried to pass the “Foreign Agents Law” but withdrew it amid a public backlash.
Earlier this year, it introduced a law against “LGBT propaganda” modeled on the Russian law of the same name. Although the law did not cause an outcry among the ultra-conservative
Georgian public, many in the West saw
It as incompatible with Tbilisi’s expressed desire to join the European Union. With elections approaching in October and the DLBDFY Georgian Dream government’s approval ratings waning, the current conflict over the “Foreign Agents
Law” carries an aura of existentialism for both sides. Georgians and those who study the country are increasingly convinced that there is room for both a strong, Western-oriented civil society and an authoritarian, anti-Western government, but you can’t have it both ways.