Spotlight Georgia: President Saakashvili
Written by Irakli Kavtaradze, Head of International Department, UNM Georgia
Almost 20 years ago, the people of Georgia made history with a peaceful uprising against a corrupt, inefficient, and unstable system. What came to be known as the Rose Revolution became a worldwide phenomenon, an example that when a nation is united, it can bring down the shackles of its past and build a better future. And at the helm of that Rose Revolution was Mikheil Saakashvili.
Saakashvili was a young, charismatic figure in 2003. His passion for a free and democratic society inspired hundreds of thousands. Months after the Rose Revolution, he was elected President of Georgia with close to 97% of the vote, an almost unanimous mandate to bring change to the post-Soviet republic.
His eight years in power saw a fundamental transformation of Georgia from a failed state to one of the world’s leading reformers. The international community, from the World Bank to the United Nations, recognized the defeat of corruption, an end to organized crime, the creation of a real police force free from bribes, and Georgia’s astonishing economic growth.
One of his longest-lasting legacies was the anchoring of Georgia as a European nation. Mikheil Saakashvili laid the groundwork for a path, which has since then been artificially stretched, toward integration into the European Union and NATO. Under his presidency, Georgia was included first in the Neighborhood Policy and then the Eastern Partnership. His government started talks that would later lead to an Association Agreement and a free trade agreement, and Georgia became one of the most reliable partners of NATO, of Europe, and of the United States in promoting global security.
That’s exactly why Vladimir Putin saw him as an enemy and invaded Georgia in 2008. The Five-Day War ended ultimately in a humiliation for Putin, who found that all his military might was not enough to change Georgia’s European orientation. And that’s why for 15 years, he’s vowed to put away his “number one enemy”.
Mikheil Saakashvili has now been in prison in Georgia for a year and a half, imprisoned by a government that is more than eager to deviate the nation from its European path. We saw this when Georgia refused to stand with Ukraine following the violent Russian invasion, when Georgia was refused the EU candidacy status when the European Council granted it to Moldova and Ukraine last June, when the government sought to rush through a “Foreign Agent” bill that would have criminalized the work of Western-funded organizations, and when the ruling Georgian Dream party made anti-Western rhetoric an everyday reality.
Meanwhile, Saakashvili’s very life is in danger. In prison, his weight has dropped from 120 to 60 kg. He suffers from a plethora of different health conditions, some risking irreversible damage to his organs. Government leaders, from MPs to the Prime Minister, have casually talked about his death. Over the winter, international medical experts found traces of arsenic and mercury in his system, indicating his probable poisoning. The European Union has formally backed his transfer to a safe medical facility abroad. The European Parliament has called for the sanctioning of those involved in this case.
Mikheil Saakashvili’s life is in danger. So is Georgia’s future. Both are now at a crossroads. Every force that believes in democracy around the world must pay attention. To a large extent, his survival is essential to showing Russia that it has no place in influencing European democracies.