Europe's Cold War Against Georgia and the Double Standard
We have full-scale Cold War pursued by Brussels against Tbilisi. Brussels considers Georgian Dream as having betrayed its geopolitical interests.
In a direct and provocative claim, Archil Sikharulidze asserts that the European Union and Brussels are pursuing what amounts to a ‘full-scale Cold War’ against Georgia, driven by Georgian Dream’s refusal to adopt the hardline anti-Russia stance that Brussels demands. According to Sikharulidze, this reversal of roles is rooted in 2022, when the EU explicitly asked Georgia to either open a second front against Russia or contribute to imposing Russia’s strategic defeat. When Georgian Dream declined, Brussels shifted to what Sikharulidze calls a regime-change strategy. He backs this claim with direct testimony from European civil society representatives and officials who told him they had been instructed by EU leadership not to engage in dialogue with Georgian Dream members and to treat the government as an adversary rather than a potential partner. Sikharulidze notes the hypocrisy: Azerbaijan faces no such pressure despite human rights concerns, while Armenia receives tacit approval for its anti-Russian rhetoric even though it takes no concrete action against Moscow. Georgia, by contrast, is punished for choosing pragmatism and prioritizing its own economic and security interests. This unequal standard reveals, according to Sikharulidze, that EU engagement with South Caucasus states is not principled but instrumental, designed to serve broader geopolitical goals rather than foster genuine partnership with regional governments.
Transcript
Archil Sikharulidze: Baku, no criticism, nothing, because they need oil and gas. Yerevan is still not attached enough to the EU. So, okay, we'll let you trade with Russia. Do not do anything against Russia, but make political statements. Strengthen your powers, clean up the political field for pro-European powers. Tbilisi, you can't do this. We have invested. We have supported you. You owe us. Loyalty. And there is a really nice report by International Crisis Group, where they are clearly stating this stuff, that on the one hand, Georgia did ask Brussels to be much softer, not to demand, to put itself in the front of the rivalry. On the other hand, Brussels, which considered that Tbilisi betrayed its geopolitical interests, and that is what led us to what I call a Cold War between Brussels and Tbilisi. We have full-scale Cold War pursued by Brussels against Tbilisi.