On March 25, former Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili delivered a significant address at the plenary session of the Lithuanian Seimas, emphasizing the critical importance of Georgia’s sovereignty and its aspirations for European integration. In her speech, Zurabishvili expressed deep concern over recent developments in Georgia, characterizing the current government as “Russian-inspired” and accusing it of systematically dismantling democratic institutions and jeopardizing the nation’s European future.
Highlighting the urgency of the situation, she appealed to European leaders to ensure that Georgia’s challenges remain a priority on the EU agenda. Zurabishvili warned that overlooking Georgia’s plight could have broader implications for regional stability and security.
“Europe must act now, if we allow Georgia to fall into Russian hands again, it will not only be a tragedy for my country, it will be a strategic catastrophe for Europe,” – she emphasized.
She claimed that if Russia succeeds in Georgia, it will prove that Russia no longer needs military aggression, military invasion to achieve its goals, “it can simply use, at a much lower cost to itself, hybrid warfare, electoral manipulation, economic coercion and the imposition of internal control to remove democratic governments and replace them with authoritarian projects.”
“It is testing new ground in Georgia, as it did in 2008 when it tried military aggression. If it turns out that achieving success is easier and much cheaper than the very uncertain issue of a war against Ukraine, which has already cost Russia a lot, Russia will definitely extend its new strategy to countries where it is already conducting some preliminary tests, and these are Romania and Moldova. They will try to use this in the Ukrainian elections, which may be very dangerous, and give Russia what it was unable to gain through this aggressive war,” Zurabishvili noted.
She further expressed the concern that the Georgian government is beginning to return the country to Russian domination and the Russian model of governance.
“The crisis in Georgia is intensifying. In addition to the election fraud, in addition to the political crisis, where the opposition is contesting the election results, when the ruling party is trying to consolidate power at any cost, we are facing a different challenge, which can only be called an existential challenge. The ruling party, which initially came to power with the support of the absolute majority of the country’s population, because it came to power with a pro-European program, a program of democratic reforms, decided on November 28 of last year to turn its back on its own promises, which are spelled out in Article 78 of the Constitution, to turn its back on the nation’s expressed desire for Georgia to join the European family, and against all the expectations and aspirations of the Georgian people, Georgia is beginning to return to Russian domination and the Russian model of governing the country. The Russian nightmare, which we thought was part of history after our independence, is returning to haunt us in the 21st century,” she noted.
The Lithuanian parliament welcomed Zurabishvili’s address, acknowledging the longstanding and supportive relationship between Lithuania and Georgia. Speaker Saulius Skvernelis noted that hosting former heads of state is customary and aligns with Lithuania’s commitment to the Eastern Partnership and support for Georgia’s European aspirations.
This visit underscores the importance of international solidarity and dialogue in supporting nations striving for democratic integrity and European integration, particularly in the face of external pressures and internal challenges.
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