Thread by @terjehelland

🇬🇪A country once seen as the democratic bright spot of the post-Soviet space is now undergoing the fastest authoritarian regression in modern European history.
🧵Here’s a thread to keep you updated on what’s happening - and why it matters.
1/23

🇪🇺Just 18 months ago, Georgia was granted EU candidate status.
Today:
🔹 Rigged elections
🔹 Political prisoners
🔹 Criminalized dissent
🔹 Legislation 100% incompatible with EU membership
🔹 Suspended EU integration
The speed of collapse is staggering - and intentional.
2/23

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Georgian Dream @GeorgianDream41 has steadily severed ties with the West - while mimicking Putin’s playbook at home.
What began as hostile rhetoric is now a barrage of repressive laws targeting opposition, civil society, and journalists.
3/23

In May 2024, the government reintroduced and passed the so-called “foreign agents” law - explicitly modeled on Russian legislation.
It allows surveillance, asset disclosure, and punishment of NGOs and media receiving foreign funding.
4/23

But that wasn’t enough. In April 2025, Georgian Dream passed a new “FARA” law - criminalizing individuals it arbitrarily deems to be under the influence of a foreign power.
Punishment: up to five years in prison.
It’s even illegal to receive training.
5/23

The electoral system has also been re-engineered.
Changes to Georgia’s Central Election Commission mean the self proclaimed ruling party no longer needs opposition support to pass critical election-related decisions.
This undermines electoral integrity at its core.
6/23

Opposition parties now risk outright bans.
A May 2025 law allows the Constitutional Court - widely seen as government-controlled - to dissolve parties whose activities “substantially repeat” those of already-banned groups.
This could eliminate pluralism entirely.
7/23

Independent media has been targeted with lawsuits for using phrases like “Ivanishvili’s regime” or “regime prisoners.”
State-aligned courts now enforce “coverage standards” that criminalize criticism.
Some journalists already face years in prison.
8/23

Journalistic work has become dangerous.
More than 70 journalists have been injured covering protests since 2024.
Dozens face criminal investigations, including Georgia’s first female journalist political prisoner, Mzia Amaglobeli. @MAmaghlobeli @netgazeti
9/23

Civil society is being dismantled with legal precision.
New laws prohibit NGOs from receiving grants without government permission - and eliminate civil society participation in policymaking altogether.
This is a deliberate move to isolate power.
10/23

Protest is no longer a right.
Legislation passed in December 2024 introduced a series of bans:
🔹Face coverings at protests
🔹Use of fireworks or laser pointers
🔹Blocking roads (now criminal)
Even symbolic acts can now lead to arrest.
11/23

This is not about isolated abuses.
This is systematic: a legal framework crafted to make Georgia incompatible with EU membership.
That’s no accident - it’s a strategy years in the making.
Georgian Dream is guaranteeing that Georgia will not become a member of the EU.
12/23

In November 2024, the self-proclaimed Prime Minister Kobakhidze formally suspended Georgia’s EU path until 2028.
The message was unambiguous: Georgia’s leadership no longer seeks a European future.
And the streets erupted.
13/23

For over six months, protests have gripped Georgia.
Hundreds of thousands marched. Artists, students, civil servants - even business leaders - joined.
The ruling party responded with beatings, surveillance, and mass arrests.
14/23

More than 200 public employees have been fired simply for Facebook posts supporting EU membership.
The government fears its own citizens - because it knows it does not speak for them.
15/23
civil.ge/archives/640162

80% of Georgians support EU integration.
This is not a divided country.
It is a hijacked one - held hostage by a ruling elite that serves neither the people nor their aspirations.
16/23

At the center of this hijacking is one man: Bidzina Ivanishvili.
A shadowy oligarch with ties to Russian finance and London shell networks, he controls Georgia’s state apparatus from behind the scenes.
He is Georgia’s real power.
17/23

The West must face this squarely.
Georgian Dream’s authoritarian pivot is not just a domestic tragedy - it is a geopolitical gift to Moscow.
And it is happening in plain sight.
18/23

Western support statements are not enough.
What’s needed now:
🔹Individual sanctions on Ivanishvili and inner circle
🔹Targeted financial sanctions on enablers using Western banks
🔹Clear linkage between repression and EU/NATO pathways
19/23

This is a test of the West’s resolve.
Do we stand with a pro-European population resisting authoritarian rule - or do we reward a regime dismantling democracy at record speed?
20/23

The courage of ordinary Georgians is extraordinary.
They are singing the EU anthem as tear gas rains down.
They are marching for values the West claims to defend - democracy, liberty, the rule of law.
They wave US flags.
They deserve more than applause.
21/23

Democracy doesn’t collapse overnight - it dies in stages, often under legal cover.
Georgia is a warning to the world: the tools of autocracy are now subtle, domestic, and dressed in law.
And this is Putin’s other kind of war - the hybrid one.
22/23

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23/23buymeacoffee.com/terjehelland

Sources:
“I was not fierce enough”: Georgian activist’s brutal confession as democracy collapses - @NUKA21
euromaidanpress.com/2025/06/08/i-w…

The 16 legislative changes that have shaped Georgia’s authoritarian slide
@OCMediaorgoc-media.org/explainer-the-…