In a striking win for Vladimir Putin, and a significant defeat for human rights, democracy, and the European Union, talks to end the Republic of Georgia’s political deadlock have failed.
After a week of discussions mediated by the EU, the ruling Georgian Dream Party and opposition parties have failed to reach an agreement. The crisis talks were held after the government’s late February arrest of United National Movement leader Nika Melia. Carried out on spurious legal grounds, the arrest advanced the government’s authoritarian consolidation of power. Indeed, that arrest was so alarming in terms of its ramifications for Georgian democracy it provoked Georgian Dream Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia to resign in protest. Now nominally led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, the government is actually controlled by kingmaker billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
A crony capitalist who has earned Putin’s favor, Ivanishvili has run roughshod over the political opposition while undermining the rule of law. The oligarch’s negative influence has been felt in both the human rights and economic fields. Recent Russian efforts to destabilize Georgian democracy with assassination attempts have also gone largely unpunished.
The EU brokered talks, led by Christian Danielsson, were supposed to address these issues, but they failed. The government has refused to release Melia or to call fresh elections. Instead, the only thing the EU appears to have accomplished in Tbilisi is to produce a music-overlayed video of Danielsson walking around a building. It’s a serious defeat to the EU’s credibility. As one EU official told the Financial Times earlier this week, “If we cannot keep a small trans-Caucasus country that is eager to be associated with us within our orbit, then what the hell can we do?”
Good question.
The Biden administration must step into the breach if it is at all serious about its rhetoric of reemphasized democracy promotion. What’s at stake here is the ability of a young democracy to survive in its formative years and under significant external and internal pressure.
The United States has significant economic leverage, including on Ivanishvili directly, which could be brought to bear. Secretary of State Antony Blinken should make an immediate visit to Tbilisi. His failure to do so will undermine the aspirations of a pro-western people and further increase Putin’s necrotic influence.
