Georgia today is the point where three roads intersect: the will of a European people, advancingauthoritarianism andinternational indifference that risks becoming complicity. This is why we must talk about it. Not out of pity, not out of abstract geopolitics, but for one simple reason: what happens in Tbilisi concerns the future of the whole of Europe.

The suspension of talks with the EU

On 28 November 2024, the government led by the Georgian Dream party announced the suspension of EU accession talks until 2028. A decision taken after elections that the international community called fraudulent, and which was followed by the repression of peaceful protests with tear gas and mass arrests. Some 400 protesters reported torture. Civil servants were dismissed on the sole charge of supporting the pro-European orientation of the population.

Democratic regression

Organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Transparency International denounce a clear regression: restrictions on press freedom, ‘anti-foreign agent’ laws, intimidation against activists and students. Yet, despite everything, tens of thousands of Georgians continue to take to the streets every night. With EU flags. With European chants. With slogans demanding not privileges, but fundamental rights: free elections, transparent institutions, a democratic future.

Heroism in the streets of Tbilisi

This is heroism. Not that of the statues, but that of the streets lit up by mobile phones. It is the civil resistance of a people who want to belong to Europe more than many European capitals want for themselves.

Why Europe must talk about Georgia

Europe cannot afford to ignore what is happening in the East. The line between a fragile democracy and an authoritarian regime is not a geopolitical detail: it is a fault line that affects everyone.

1. Because Georgia wants to be Europe more than many Europeans. The protests are not political manoeuvres: they are a spontaneous referendum on European membership. The Georgian generation that has grown up in the new millennium speaks, studies and dreams in Europe.
2. Because the Caucasus is the border of the European project. If Georgia slides towards authoritarian models, Europe would lose a key strategic and cultural region.
3. Because democracy does not defend itself. Every European silence strengthens regimes that observe and learn.

The sacrifice of the Georgian people

Despite the repression, Georgians do not leave. They remain in the streets. They have faced water cannons, arbitrary arrests, beatings, smear campaigns. Yet they do not retreat, despite the fact that Georgia has, in proportion to its population, more political prisoners than Russia. For them, Europe is not a market: it is a moral promise.

This is what being Georgia means

It means recognising that the Georgians’ battle is not just theirs: it is ours too. It is a battle against resignation, against cynical realpolitik, against the belief that small peoples must be content. It means saying that Europe is not a closed club, but a moral horizon. And that when a people stands up for those values, Europe must respond.

What Europe must do now

Communiqués are not enough. Not enough ‘concerns’. It is needed:

• Real diplomatic pressure,
• Formal and material support to Georgian civil society,
• International monitoring of violations,
• Targeted sanctions,
• Support for students, NGOs and independent media.

Not for interference, but for consistency: if Europe believes in its values, it cannot abandon those who defend them.

We are all Georgia

Being with Georgia is not a banner of identity: it is a responsibility. It is knowing that while we argue, others risk their skins for something we often take for granted: freedom. Georgia today is not asking for charity. It asks for attention.