It is important that Georgia and Georgia’s crisis remain in the focus of the world’s attention, – Georgia’s fifth president Salome Zurabishvili said in an interview with The Brussels Times last week.
Zurabishvili stressed that the idea of an independent Georgia with a “natural European future” is deeply rooted in Georgian society. She accused the country’s ruling party of acting in line with Moscow’s interests, arguing that their increasingly harsh anti-European and anti-Western rhetoric is alien to the Georgian public and aimed at severing ties with Europe.
She noted that, amid multiple global geopolitical crises, keeping international attention on Georgia has become increasingly difficult. At the same time, Zurabishvili warned that the European Union’s inaction is having a damaging effect on public attitudes toward Europe in Georgia.
“People hear calls for sanctions, but then see that in reality nothing happens,” she said, adding that the sense of powerlessness to prevent a country that was “almost at the EU’s doorstep” from being drawn back under Russian influence is alarming—not only for Georgians, but for Europe as well.
Photo: Salome Zurabishvili. Source: IPN
