On 26 October, Georgian voters will choose their new parliament. This election will be decisive for the future of Georgia and perhaps of Europe. The polls show the pro-European opposition parties in the lead. But Georgia’s pro-Russian government, in power since 2012 and led by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, does not seem ready to relinquish power.

While pretending to support EU membership, Georgian Dream is in fact pushing ahead with a single-minded policy of rapprochement with Moscow. In particular, its recent laws on "foreign agents" and "LGBT propaganda" are carbon copies of those used by the Kremlin to crush dissent in Russia. They have led inevitably to the suspension of Tbilisi's EU bid. Tens of thousands of young Georgians have taken to the streets, feeling that their future is being stolen from them.

A few days ahead of the elections, we discussed the situation and what is at stake with Anna Gvarishvili, a political journalist and the director of Investigative Media Lab, and Shota Kincha, a journalist specialising in gender issues and the far right at OC Media, both based in Tbilisi. The event took place on Friday 18 October.

🤝 An event in partnership with Display Europe.
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