Is the Nation of Georgia a European State?

By Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer

The nation of Georgia, located in the southern Caucasus, has had a troubled history since emerging as an independent country following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Two non-Georgian ethnic regions within the country immediately also declared themselves sovereign and, with the help of Russia, have resisted reintegration into the country. Indeed, in 2008 Moscow fought a brief war with Georgia to protect Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

As well, domestically its politics have been less than democratic.

One of its former presidents, Mikheil Saakashvili, who was head of state from 2004 to 2013, is now in exile, accused of multiple criminal acts while in office. 

He became president after President Eduard Sheverdnadze, the last foreign minister of the Soviet Union, resigned following the bloodless November 2003 “Rose Revolution,” brought about by widespread protests over disputed parliamentary elections and corruption.

Already tarnished by his foolhardy war with Russia, Saakashvili left the country in 2013, not likely to ever return. In 2012, leaked videos showed prison guards torturing inmates in Georgian jails, and Georgian officials filed criminal charges against Saakashvili for abuse of power. Last year he was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison.

Nor have things improved very much. Last October’s presidential election, which saw Salome Zourabichvili win office as the country’s fifth president, has also proved controversial.

Her main opponent in the election, Grigol Vashadze, was backed by the fugitive Saakashvili, in a campaign marred by vote-buying and violations of campaign finance rules. It highlighted the continued problem of political corruption in Georgia.

Thousands of protesters denounced the election as “rigged.” Vashadze asserted the election was a “criminal farce.”

Despite all of this, Georgia likes to present itself as a “European” country and would like to join both the European Union and NATO.

Christianity is considered one of the most important components of Georgian national identity as it was key to the struggle for survival for centuries. For many Georgians, Christianity is the main reason behind their feeling of Europeanness. 

Most people in the country belong to the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church. One of the oldest churches in the world, Georgia’s constitution recognizes its special role in the country's history.

These views were encapsulated in a speech delivered by Saakashvili in 2009 in the presence of Spanish premier José María Aznar. Saakashvili asserted that Georgia is one of the oldest European countries: 

“We must never forget it; we are not anyone’s distant relatives and connected with them by force. We are an indivisible part of this civilization.” 

Saakashvili claimed that Georgians had made a choice to leave behind the undemocratic Soviet past for a bright democratic future. European values, he insisted, were at the core of Georgian society.

Georgia’s admission to the Council of Europe in 1999 was viewed as an essential symbolic step in Georgia’s path “back to Europe.” This was followed by Georgia’s association agreement with the European Union, signed in 2014.

This re-entry to Europe was symbolized by a new flag that stressed Georgia’s Christian character with five crosses of Saint George.

Implicit in all of this was the idea that as Georgia was Europe’s frontier state in the former USSR, the West should defend Georgia against its enemies – and help it regain its lost territories.

However, does being Christian automatically make any nation a European one? Actually, Georgian intellectuals themselves have long debated whether Georgia is “European” or “Asian” and the direction they should follow for the future.

After the fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Georgia was almost completely cut-off from Europe and it would not be until the eighteenth century that real contact would be re-established -- via Russia.

Today, though, the country has rebranded itself as European, in order to gain access to European institutions.

In late March Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani visited Brussels and attended a meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and said that the 29 NATO member states had “clearly stated that Georgia will become a member of NATO.”

NATO member states expressed their strong support for the territorial integrity of Georgia and its sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders.

Georgia’s European discourse is being employed by the its political elite as a strategy in seeking Western patronage, and it’s working. We’ll have to see what Russia thinks about it.