Georgia’s future at stake: Zurabishvili warns of ‘existential’ election.

• Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili characterized the upcoming parliamentary elections as a key choice between European alignment and Russian influence.
• Zurabishvili emphasized the high stakes of the election, framing it as a decision between “war and peace” and a determining factor in Georgia’s future trajectory.
• The president’s remarks highlight the geopolitical tensions surrounding Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO and the EU, amid strained relations with the West over perceived pro-Russian shifts in government policies.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has appointed the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections a “choice between Europe and Russia” for the South Caucasus nation.

Zurabishvili’s statement came after she signed a decree announcing October 26, the last Saturday of October, as the day for parliamentary polls, saying voters would have to “choose between war and peace” in the election.

“The day of decision, the day of choice, the day of survival is coming,” Zurabishvili said, stressing that the election will be “existential” for the former Soviet republic and will “define the country’s destiny for many years to come. “

“No one in Georgia wants a war and no one is planning it… The choice will be between being Russia’s slave or cooperating with Europe,” Zurabishvili added.

Despite Georgia’s long-standing aspiration to join NATO and the European Union, the government’s relationship with the West has declined in recent years amid Tbilisi’s visible turn toward Russia.

Brussels has suspended ongoing EU accession negotiations with Tbilisi and the United States has undertaken a “comprehensive review” of relations with Georgia over the controversial “foreign agents law” that was recently passed by the Georgian government – – which is led by the Georgian Dream party. of former billionaire Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili — amid fierce protests.

“The choice will be between obeying Russia through miserable concessions and effectively selling Russia’s soul and being an equal state in Europe, promoting our identity, history, talents and opportunities — the proper representation of Georgia in a free and peaceful environment. there will be no second chance,” Zurabishvili said.

Georgia’s civil society has tried for years to distance the country from the influence of Russia, which still maintains thousands of troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two Georgian breakaway regions that Moscow recognized as independent states following a five-year war days with Tbilisi in 2008. .

Via RFE/RL

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