Menu
Over the past several years, the ruling party in Georgia has been strengthening its grip on power, putting in place restrictions on the civil society and pushing the Caucasian country’s off its pro-Western course and deeper under the influence of Russia. An example of this was the so-called Russian Law, forcing NGOs to register as foreign agents.
Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary election was a pivotal moment for the country’s democracy. The hope was that opposition parties could break the ruling pro-Russian, authoritarian Georgian Dream party’s dominance. But the outcome raised alarms: official results gave GD 54% of the vote, a result significantly higher than any reliable poll predicted.
Election observers, including over 3,000 international monitors, reported widespread fraud. There were multiple instances of ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and organised criminal gang activity at polling stations. In rural areas, particularly among ethnic minority voters, reports emerged of people being pressured into voting for the government party, with some ID cards being seized as a form of control. The country’s president, Salome Zurabishvili, as well as the opposition leaders reject the election results.
Since the election, the ruling party has already taken steps to take the country further under Putin’s sphere of influence, nominating a puppet candidate for the next presidential election, and halting its EU membership talks until 2028 in response to a European Parliament resolution denouncing the election fraud, despite promising a European future to its citizens.
Because of the ongoing situation, Georgian Students For Liberty joined the country’s civil society in massive protests that have been taking place since the election, and run viral social media campaigns to document and bring awareness to the election fraud.
Now, they need your help to spread the message and raise awareness of the situation in Georgia, as well as your support to continue their efforts to save Georgia’s liberal future.
The Georgian police are known for taking drastic and violent action against peaceful protestors, and making arbitrary arrests. Previously, Students For Liberty contributed to providing masks against teargas, water, first aid kids and other items needed for safe protesting.
However, the Georgian Dream party is now taking steps to illegalise provision of such protective equipment. Therefore, your donations will primarily be used towards informational posters around Georgia and to cover administrative fines of arbitrarily arrested Georgian protesters, to support them in continuing to voice their dissent with the government’s actions.
The news cycle is fast, and important causes disappear from the frontlines way too quickly. Help us keep the efforts of Georgians to protect their democracy on everyone’s radar. You can help by sharing the information about the rigged election and ongoing protest, such as from our
Georgian social media pages.
Organize or join protests at Georgian embassies: there are many peaceful protests around the world, including New York, Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, London, etc. Search for and get connected with a local Georgian diaspora.
You can contact us to connect with our network across Europe and join the activities of our local chapters.
If you want to get involved and help safeguard Georgia’s liberal future and aren’t sure how, contact Mariam Berdzenishvili, our European Community Associate at [email protected].
