Georgia
Georgia is on the frontline of the struggle between Russia and the west. Will its democracy survive? | Nathalie Tocci
Polarisation is growing across Europe and the west. Nowhere is this clearer than in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The “Russian law”, a copycat piece of legislation imported from Moscow, which forces Georgian civil society groups to register as foreign agents if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad, was recently passed – despite massive protests and widespread police violence. The law is set to be implemented later this summer, just in time to cripple civil society and squeeze the opposition parties ahead of the country’s crucial parliamentary election on 26 October.
Against the backdrop of the protests, the governing party, Georgian Dream, lowered its mask. In a hyperbolic speech in April, the billionaire tycoon and behind-the-scenes leader of the party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, launched an all-out attack against the liberal west, rife with conspiracy theories about a putative “global war party” driven by Freemasons, traitors, foreign agents and more. Georgian Dream does not claim it wants to abandon the path to the EU and Nato. On the contrary, it boasts that under its watch, Georgia was recognised as an EU candidate. For its part, the EU took too long to distance itself from the government in Tbilisi, which brazenly dusted off the Russian law – postponed after the first protests last year – only weeks after Georgia was granted candidacy in December.
European leaders and institutions condemned the law and the police violence against demonstrators, who mobilised for the second time in the spring to stop the law – this time to no avail. Yet in the eyes of civil society and the opposition, European criticism was too timid. As one opposition leader put it to me in Tbilisi a few days ago: “When you’re in a room with a snake, you don’t engage with it or seek to understand its ‘legitimate concerns’. I was shocked to watch on television the EU ambassador cut ribbons with top Georgian Dream leaders while I was in hospital with a concussion caused by police violence.”
The EU has now toughened up. A few days ago it formally suspended Georgia’s accession process and froze €3om (£25m) in financial aid for the country’s defence ministry. Meanwhile, the EU has rightly agreed to move forward with Ukraine and Moldova’s accession negotiations.
But more is needed. So far the Georgian government has had its cake and eaten it. When the Russian law comes into effect, the EU should consider personal sanctions and travel bans on individuals in the political, business and media circles of the regime. Were the authoritarian squeeze to continue in the event of Georgian Dream’s electoral victory, the EU should revoke Georgians’ free movement across Europe without the need of a visa.
The opposition knows that the autumn election is a fight for life or death. As one academic and renowned opposition figure told me: “Georgia is already lost. This is our last chance to recover our country.” Opposition leaders are having tactical discussions on how to create a united alliance to avoid splitting the opposition vote, especially given the 5% electoral threshold below which parties are not represented in parliament at all. Yet they know that they can’t afford to blow this chance: it may be their last to restore liberal democracy in Georgia.
However, the outcome is uncertain. Alongside the skewed political playing field – with funds, social welfare programmes, police forces, a well-oiled propaganda machine and the upcoming repression of civil society on its side – Georgian Dream has a story to tell. The message is simple: war versus peace. In its narrative, the opposition fell into Russia’s trap in 2008, led by an irresponsible Mikheil Saakashvili and egged on by a hypocritical west, which then abandoned Georgia to its destiny when Russia invaded. Playing on citizens’ fears, exacerbated by the trauma of Russia’s invasion in 2008, the government portrays itself as the party of “peace”. In contrast, the opposition, which now firmly backs Ukraine’s resistance against Russia, is depicted as the “global war party”. Glossing over its ever closer ties to Moscow, Georgian Dream depicts itself as the bulwark against a new, unwinnable war against Russia.
The opposition also has a strong story to tell: it’s about Europe and freedom versus Russia and repression. An electoral victory in October, it says, represents the only route for Georgia to avoid sinking deeper into a post-Soviet authoritarian swamp. The mass demonstrations against the Russian law, both in 2023 and this year, tell us that it has a compelling case, capable of mobilising people and putting Georgia back on track towards democracy and the EU.
But it will not be easy. Georgian Dream also has a unified Russia backing it up. The opposition has a distracted and divided west. The divisions in the west mirror precisely those in Georgia. Georgian Dream could not win the election on a clear anti-west and anti-European ticket. Georgians know that their country’s independence and freedom (from Russia) is tied to the west. But is it an open, democratic and law-abiding west, or a closed, nationalistic and socially conservative one? If it’s the west represented by Viktor Orbán, Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni and Geert Wilders in Europe, flanked by Donald Trump on the other side of the Atlantic, Ivanishvili may be quite comfortable with being pro-west. Probably Vladimir Putin would too.
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Tiny Georgia is a microcosm of the fight for liberal democracy in the west. For years, Georgian democrats pleaded for their western partners to wake up to the threat posed by Russia. But as those eyes started opening after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Georgian government turned towards Moscow in a tragic twist of history. Paradoxically, it did so just as Georgia came a step closer to joining the EU, riding the wave of the revival of its enlargement policy and spurred on by the Ukraine war.
In older democracies, where institutions are stronger, liberal democracy can withstand (for a while) the election of autocrats, nationalists and populists. In young and fragile democracies on Russia’s doorstep, in contrast, democracy, has to be supported and saved. If not, it can quickly end with a bang.
NORCROSS, GEORGIA — Geoff Duncan, former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, won’t stop apologizing.
He’s sorry for supporting the state’s 2019 “heartbeat bill,” which bans abortion at around six weeks, after a fetal heartbeat is detected. He’s sorry for facilitating the passage of a “constitutional carry” bill in 2022, which allows most people to carry a concealed handgun with no license or background check. He’s also sorry for opposing Medicaid expansion, arguing at the time that it was not fiscally responsible.
“I’m sorry for those positions and any harm that they may have done,” Duncan told me.
Duncan first rose to prominence as one of the Republicans who resisted President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 win in Georgia. Duncan has been speaking out against what he calls Trump’s “toxic” and “dangerous” Republican Party since leaving office in 2023, and even endorsed Kamala Harris and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2024. After being excommunicated from the Georgia Republican Party in January 2025, Duncan switched parties in August. He is now running for governor as a Democrat in what will be one of the most closely watched races in the midterms.
Georgia Tech didn’t let the weekend get away.
The No. 2 Yellow Jackets were flying high with a 13-game win streak heading into the weekend showdown against No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels took the first two games, but Tech salvaged the finale 5-2 on Sunday.
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 2 Georgia Tech got back to its winning ways, defeating No. 3 North Carolina (33-7-1, 15-6 ACC) by a final score of 5-2 from Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Yellow Jackets (32-7, 16-5 ACC) held UNC in check from the third inning on, using 6.1 scoreless innings from Caden Gaudette and Mason Patel to salvage the series and collect its 10th Top 15 victory of the season for this first time this century.
After both teams traded runs in the first inning, the Jackets struck for three runs on three hits in the third. The inning started with a leadoff double from Drew Burress who was quickly brought to the plate by a single from Jarren Advincula. Vahn Lackey drew a walk off a full count before Kent Schmidt connected for an RBI double, bringing in Advincula for what would become the game-winning run. Lackey made it a three-run inning when he scored on an RBI groundout by Ryan Zuckerman. UNC would work the bases loaded and score a run in the bottom of the inning before Gaudette entered the game and induced an inning ending groundout. UNC wouldn’t get another runner into scoring position until the eight inning as Gaudette and Patel slammed the door on any potential comeback.
QUICK HITS: TEAM
- The Jackets improve to 32-7, the best start to a season since 2010. Tech is 16-5 in ACC play, the best start since 2011.
- Tech has won 32 of its first 39 games for only the 6th time in the program’s 131 seasons: 2010, 2003 2002, 1997, 1993 and now 2026.
- James Ramsey owns the best record by any GT head coach in his first season through 39 games (32-7).
- The Jackets improve to 8-1 in nationally televised games this season.
- Tech has now won 10 games over Top 15 opponents for the first time this century.
- Tech has scored 417 runs through their first 39 games. It’s the most runs Georgia Tech has recorded after 39 games in the program’s 131-year history and the most runs any Power 4 team has scored through 39 games in the BBCOR era (since 2011).
- The Jackets scoring average now stands at 10.7 runs/game this season. The program record is 10.3, set back in 1984.
- GT is outscoring its opponents 417-174, that +243 margin is the highest through 39 games in program history.
- The bullpen delivered 6.1 scoreless innings, marking the 15th scoreless outing of the season and second of the weekend.
QUICK HITS: THE BATS
- Junior Drew Burress produced his 17th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
- He has scored 51 runs this season, one shy of Vahn Lackey for the most on the team. Burress has scored 201 runs over his career, tied with Danny Payne (2005-07) for the 11th most in Georgia Tech history.
- He becomes the first Yellow Jacket in the BBCOR era to record 200+ runs over a career.
- Junior Kent Schmidt went 2-for-4 with a go-ahead RBI double and a shift-beating bunt.
- He leads the team with 26 RBI in ACC play and has delivered 35 for the season.
- Schmidt has now collected extra base hits in three straight games for the first time this season and third time in his GT career.
- He finishes the series with a .500 average, going 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI, two runs scored and three walks
- Junior Jarren Advincula recorded his 24th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
- He leads the ACC with 68 hits this season, averaging 1.7 hits per game and putting him on pace for 94 hits over the course of the regular season. With potential postseason games, that would put him in striking distance of being the first 100-hit player at GT since 2005 (Wes Hodges & Tyler Greene).
- He drove in his 45th RBI of the season, the third most on the team behind Vahn Lackey and Ryan Zuckerman.
- Junior Ryan Zuckerman became the first Jacket to reach 50 RBI when he drove in Lackey for the fourth run of the game.
- Sophomore Caleb Daniel came off the bench in the 5th inning and blooped an RBI double, it was his 24th RBI of the season and his 5th as a pinch hitter.
QUICK HITS: THE ARMS
- Sophomore Jackson Blakely made his sixth consecutive weekend start, pitching 2.2 innings with two earned runs allowed and three strikeouts.
- He has only allowed runs in only three of his eight appearances this season (37.1 innings) this season.
- His ERA stands at 2.65, the lowest among all starting pitchers on the roster.
- R-junior Caden Gaudette made his team-leading 16th appearance of the season and 2nd of the weekend, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings.
- He entered the game with a two-run lead (4-2) and the bases loaded with two outs before inducing an inning ending groundout to short.
- Gaudette lowers his ERA to 2.86 in 22.0 innings of work.
- The man they call “Rock” pitched a total of 3.1 innings this weekend, allowing only one hit with four strikeouts.
- He has now pitched as many innings this season as he had in his previous two years combined (22.0) while allowing less than half as many earned runs (7 in 2026, 15 in 2024-25) and exactly half as many hits (12 in 2026, 24 in 2024-25).
- Mason Patel got the ball to start the 6th inning, keeping the score at 5-2 for the final four frames and collecting his fourth save of the season.
- Since recovering from an injury that saw him miss 20 days, Patel has made six appearances out of the bullpen, pitching 13.2 scoreless innings with a victory and four saves.
- Over the last two seasons, Patel has made 29 appearances out of the bullpen, posting 12 wins and nine saves.
- This was his longest relief appearance of the season (4.0 innings) after pitching at least 3.0 innings in 15 of his 23 appearances during his All-American season last year.
Up Next
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Tuesday at 7 pm at Truist Park. Tickets are available HERE with all proceeds benefiting the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech baseball team, follow us on X (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
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