Ln October 26, Europe will have one more opportunity to answer the age-old question about its ability to defend not only its values, but also its interests in the face of Russia and Putinism, understood as an alternative political model to democracy. . During the legislative elections which will be held today in Georgia, a country to which the European Union (EU) has recognized the status of candidate for membership, we will face an increasingly authoritarian and hostile power towards Europe, which he describes as “world war party”and the opposition, which promises to bring the country back on the path to European integration. Serious polls show a comfortable lead for the opposition in this country where more than 80% of the population says they want to join the EU.
But Europeans are wondering: if the opposition wins, will Russia invade the country? The feverish insistence on this possibility could lead one to believe that some, ultimately, are more concerned about the victory of pro-European forces and the emergence of yet another crisis with Russia that would follow.
Fear of war is also the main electoral argument used by Georgian Dream, the ruling party. In addition to his promise to ban the opposition and try it for treason in a “Georgian Nuremberg Trials”the regime adorns the walls with electoral posters showing Ukrainian cities razed by bombs and those of Georgia, peaceful and clean. But Georgians seem tired of seeing this red rag waved, as well as of the government's claim to save the country from LGBT+ people and the generalization of same-sex marriage, “imposed by Brussels”. The attraction of Europe is much stronger, as proven by the 100,000 to 150,000 pro-European demonstrators who gathered almost daily in the spring.
Not supporting this momentum would be a serious mistake. Fear of Russian reaction has always encouraged the Kremlin to go on the offensive: it was this which made people say that the slightest aid to kyiv would provoke escalation and that Ukraine was lost even before Putin ordered the invasion. . It is this lack of firmness, based on errors of assessment and ignorance of the East, which is partly responsible for the tens of thousands of Ukrainian deaths, because Moscow would perhaps never have invaded if, before February By 2022, Ukraine had received one hundredth of the military aid provided since then.
Geopolitical and economic interest
Today, Europe can and must prevent Putinists from stealing the European future from the Georgians, because October 26 will also have consequences for the Western world. Tbilisi, like kyiv, is on the front line. The forces hostile to Europe want to obtain by stealing the vote what they are aiming for militarily in Ukraine. Certainly, the latter is larger, and perhaps even more strategically important, as evidenced by the presence of 3,000 Georgian volunteers in the ranks of the Ukrainian army, but the defense of Georgia is just as crucial .
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Source: Lemonde