The land with no common border with Europe (episode 1)
Landing and getting some context.
Russian influence, election monitoring, election meddling, Foreign Interference, propaganda, disinformation, European policy, Transparency, democracy… In the world of OSINT and Disinformation, we are using all these words in every report, study, research, briefing or LinkedIn posts. But in Georgia, it was really happening, with real people, all of this and all at once. It would happen not on the internet, not on networks, not AI or Twitter, but on billboards in the streets, in physical polling stations, in a real parliament, in demonstrations.
So, we went to spend two weeks in Tbilisi, one before the elections, one after. This is a subjective view, in multi-episodes, of what I saw and understood.
This is a tale about European style democracy fighting Russian style authoritarianism in a small country at the crossroad of four continents.
Thanks, Eva Bauchau, for context, expertise, contacts and on-site support. Thanks, Claire Pershan, for re-reading
Wake up at 12.30. Bound to, with an arrival at 4.25 am. It does not seem possible to arrive in this country at any other time than 4.25. The 1st time I was here, last year, it was exactly the same story…
It was for an international fact checking conference. Because yes, here, on the disinfo frontline, fact checking is still a thing. They don’t say “disinfo” or any other fancy new term, they say “fact checking”. And they know better. Fact checking is also useful to train generations of young brilliant minds dreaming of becoming investigative journalists.
So it was the frontline. The place where one could find both: a Russian border and a successful “dialogue” policy with Putin (which means that in 2008, French President Sarkozy, in an egotistical diplomacy fever, had decided to simply give Putin parts of the country to avoid the war that was already ongoing, and it was a success because we then had one war in Syria and two wars in Ukraine but all quiet on the Georgian front, right?)
Georgia this time of this year was also the place for elections, which would mean two things: election interference and election monitoring. Or vice, versa. In any order, these two keywords were of particular interest to the disinfo community. They were always talking about it, how it is important, how we should pay attention, so why not go directly on site and see all that with real eyeballs and not keep them as buzzwords.
The government was pro-Russian. The people was not.
Well, “not”, who really knows how “the people” think? How do you measure that? With polls, yes of course, but how much can you trust polls in a country with a pro-Russian government? Polls will just tell you that “the people” love the government and that the government loves the people.
And actually the government was not pro-Russian
Elections are always something interesting. It is kind of magical moment, and in my opinion, a little miracle happening every time.
A society divides itself asserting different views on its future. Then it decides that the best way to solve the dispute is to count numbers, in a totally arbitrary way. Then, and this is where the miracle happens: the party who has the smaller numbers, agrees to leave the power to their sworn enemy. Just like that, because one guy has 51% of something and the other has 49%, the winner gets the power and the loser is out for a delimited (and totally arbitrary) period of time. Civil servants, security forces, simply agree to serve the guy who had 51% because he won. And society reconciles itself after having been so harshly divided and screamed at each other in family dinners.
Every time, the miracle happens. And these days, every time we were getting closer and closer to electing fascists (or peacekeepers with Russia), I wonder, “will the miracle take place one more time?” Every time I wonder to myself, what if we elect a fascist and, when it is his time to give up the power, he simply says “no”?
One day, on January 6, in the strongest democracy in the world, the miracle didn’t happen. The orange guy lost the count and he said “no, I did not lose, I won’t go”. His fanaticised partisans stormed the Capitol, there were deaths, the orange guy left, democracy won, and now, one term later, he is back on the verge of winning the election one more time…
This last image is a good picture of the state of our democracies everywhere.
But Georgia is not a democracy. Well, it was complicated. (As shown for instance by the Transparency International pre-election report)
So just like that, and because of all this mess, we came to check it out. To observe a bit, how this history would unfold. The election, with a pro-Russian government that did not intend to lose, a people who, inversely, intended for the government not to win, a border with Russia that could suddenly become blurry if the wrong votes were cast on the ballots.
The architecture in the streets could be described as cute sovietism. And very dilapidated. At the crossroads of 3 or 4 continents. Russia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. This was somehow what was in the air while walking down the streets of Tbilisi. One had the impression the “cute” had been added a posteriori, like the trees, planted there in the middle of the sidewalk and that would prevent you from walking, but just looked lovely.
Fabrika was a former fabric factory transformed into a youth hostel, with a huge interior courtyard for young hipsters, weed smokers, artists and barber shops.
One of these barber shops is also a bar, let’s call that convenient hipsterism.
“Do you like Georgia?” A man approaches, cadging for a cigarette and and sits there with us while he rolls it.
“Enjoy the wine, enjoy the food, enjoy the girls… You here for visiting?
- Yes. And also, we came for the elections.
- The erections? Enjoy the erections!”
His friend comes, he introduces us because he finds us very likeable.
“You are a bit of drunk” says the friend
“Who the hell is ‘Abitoff’?”
…
It is 11am and in front of me there is a guy uncapping his beer with his teeth. Caucasus…
Our roommate was Norwegian. He had come to Georgia for tourism, by accident on the very week of the elections, and was a bit worried that the atmosphere would get heated. “All nightclubs will be closed this Friday. And on doors, they put signs that would say “go vote”! I am not surprised. Nightclubs are political by nature.
The next day we are invited to a presentation of the Media Development Foundation - MDF report on the pre-election period. “Pre-Election Media Monitoring Findings”.
It will be the occasion to reconnect with the people who invited us to the fact-checking conference last year. When leaving the conference closing dinner in September 2023, completely amazed by this country I had just discovered, I told them I would like to come back in a year to cover the elections in Georgia. I kept my word.
Meanwhile, let’s head up to the old city, for tourism, lunch and the first Khinkalis…
The governing party, Georgian Dream, had passed a law against “foreign agents”, just like the one in Russia. Actually no, the law against “foreign agents” had been forsaken in the wake of huge popular protest. So it became a “law on transparency and foreign influence” targeting the NGOs serving the interest of a foreign power. And it was nothing at all like the Russian law, of course not.
It had been passed by bypassing the President’s veto.
With this law (deemed “the Russian law”, against all reason because, as we said, it was totally not like the Russian Law), the government can target any NGOs and their employees, if they had 20% of their budget paid by foreigners. The NGOs and media affected have to declare themselves as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” or face a fine. (Note how the concepts of “fighting foreign influence” or “foreign interference” can both be used to curb democracy).
Alongside the law on foreign agents, the government had passed an anti-LGBTQ law, banning demonstrations that would dare to support “gender identity” or same sex relationships.
That was the tip of the Iceberg. The agency for public transparency was under government control, and, because of the new law, the agency had the right to demand the personal data of all the NGO workers.
Another law from the government could be used to ban opposition parties. One could launch an investigation without cause, or prosecute parties without the approval of the constitutional court. In just a few months, the anti-democratic laws had just been piling up.
Georgian Dream politicians were living up to expectations. (I will use the full name “Georgian Dream” throughout these reports, because this name is so telling. According to Wikipedia it came from one of Ivanichvili’s son’s rap songs).
Irakli Kobakhidze, Prime Minister (speaking about the October 20 demonstration by the opposition):
“they did not even manage to fill up Freedom Square, even with the presence of the President, this suggests they will lose”
Shalva Papuashvili, Head of Parliament (speaking about the letter signed by 13 EU member states)
“thanks to the 13 countries who did not sign the letter. What you don’t want in Moldova, you can’t do in Georgia”.
Not exactly sure what this comment was supposed to mean, but it was obviously made before knowing the end result of the Moldovan referendum: a “YES” to join the EU, winning by 50,38%
“It is folly to impose bilateral sanctions against the Russians!”
(Georgian Dream is not Pro-Russian)
(Papuashvili would also do the promotion of the Russia Law with quotation cards from Dalai Lama. “A lack of Transparency results in distrust”)
The founder of the “Georgian Dream”, and the architect of the Russian law, (and more broadly the “honorary” ruler of the country) is Ivanishvili, a local mogul with one fourth of Georgia’s GDP in his pocket.
He founded his populist party in 2011 and won easily against the liberal UNM party of President Saakashvili, who had become unpopular. He promised to increase state services, healthcare, education, and lowering taxes for the poor, to be more pragmatic with Russia while maintaining ties to NATO and a path to EU integration. Georgian Dream managed to stay in power until now, between political crisis, handy manoeuvering, corruption and authoritarian drift. The reluctance to side against Russia after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, and the megalomania of Ivanishvili, controlling the ruling party from behind and intertwining more and more the party and the state, ended up angering the EU.
In June 2022, the European Parliament called for direct sanctions against Ivanishvili and addressed an impressive list of democratic violations. Far Right militias attacking journalists; spying on journalists; lack of investigations; alarming rise of defamation lawsuits, and insults from members of the government and ruling party against critical media; politically motivated cases against journalists; attacks on LGBTQ. The European MEPs were also concerned by the personal and business ties between Ivanishvili and the Kremlin, knowing that Ivanishvili is the man behind all Georgia’s politics, including the refusal to impose economic sanctions on Russia. The EU postponed Georgia’s candidacy to EU membership and made it conditional on strict democratic and anti-corruption reforms: the 12 point list.
In a country where the overwhelming majority of the population wants to join the EU, this did not sound well, and Georgian Dream alienated more people. Especially the President, Salome Zourabichvili, who became more and more opposed to Georgian Dream, despite having been elected with their support. The ruling party even tried to impeach her, claiming she violated the constitution.
Since 2022 and the Russian aggression in Ukraine, Georgian Dream has become increasingly conspiratorial and fear mongering, issuing alarming statements about “the Global War Party”, a freemason-like organisation fueled by Soros and Co that hides in the shadows to provoke a war with Russia - seeking to control Georgia through NGOs, to seize Ivanichvili’s money intended for Georgian people, and to open a “second front” and drag Georgia into the war with Russia to help Ukraine.
Because of Ivanichvili’s money, the posters of his party are the only ones on the billboards. The number 41 circled in red in the up-left corner of the poster. The numbers are initially assigned by the Central Electoral Commission as identifiers on the ballot papers so that voters can easily recognize and select their preferred party. They became integral part of the electoral campaigning and propaganda.
One of the 41 posters is divided in two. The left side shows black and white images of a devastated Ukraine. The other side shows a postcard in color of Georgia “at peace”.
Facing off against Georgian Dream, opposition parties managed to set up coalitions and a decent united front.
President Zourabichvili called this election a “referendum”, a choice between Russia and Europe, and she created a “Georgian charter” to help the opposition present a united front against Georgian Dream.
Unity to save Georgia, with the number 5, is the strongest opposing coalition. It is led by the liberal party from Former President Saakashvili UNM
Coalition for Change, number 4, chose for leading the list Nana Malashkhia, nicknamed “the woman with the European Flag” after the famous photo of her holding a European Flag in front of a police water cannon
Strong Georgia is number 9, leaning more towards the center left
Finally, “For Georgia” is led by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, having split off from Georgian Dream. (But they hate them so much, despite being alike, that they want to be in the opposition)
All these 4 coalitions have agreed to sign President Zourabishvili’s Charter, uniting the opposition parties into agreement on a pro-European path, pro-democratic reforms and anti-Georgian Dream clean up after the elections.
