Mikheil Saakashvili's Western Manifesto

Georgia's third president Mikheil Saakashvili has released a Western manifesto from the Gori military hospital.

We offer the text of the manifesto unchanged:

My Western Manifesto:

We have just been told that we no longer need to "bow our heads" to our Western partners, that we know better what is happening in our country and that no one should teach us any wisdom; that our Western partners are making unqualified comments or are prejudiced against us because they are agents of the opposition.

Such statements are made in the countries whose authorities have decided to leave the Western orbit and to find a comfortable zone for their dictatorial rule in the Russian orbit.

A few days ago, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed the hope that Georgia would join not only the unpromising but also the very dangerous 3+3 format. It is symbolic that this statement was made from the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, and alarmingly it was not followed by any clear condemnation not only by any Georgian governmental structure, but even by any actor. Georgia not only failed to explicitly and unequivocally reject this disastrous format, but also started talking about some kind of negotiations and the decision of the people. The decision of the Georgian people, who clearly and unambiguously stated in the referendum that their historical choice was the West, and for them the sun would never rise from the North.

At the same time, there is growing talk about deepening relations with Russia and lifting diplomatic restrictions. And these are not just words, for a long time now the Georgian Dream has made this its commitment. There have never been so many agents of Russian security services infiltrated in the Georgian state since the time when Igor Giorgadze was a minister. Georgian TV and radio space is full of Russian content, and not only Russian, the pro-government channels are also openly engaged in Russian propaganda.

The projects Lazika and Royal Carribean cruise terminals, which were supposed to be our gateway to Europe, have been killed. The same fate befell the Anaklia deep sea port project, whose authors, I am convinced, are being prosecuted and tried on politically motivated charges for this very reason. Instead, the main infrastructure project today is the construction of a new road to Russia, which has no economic importance to our country, but is of military and strategic importance to Russia.

Therefore, as one of the initiators and implementers of the Eastern Partnership idea, I decided to present my Western manifesto to the Georgian public for discussion:

Georgia was a leader among the EU Eastern Partnership countries, today it lags far behind Moldova and Ukraine in terms of the pace of rapprochement with the EU. According to the EU, Armenia is already ahead of Georgia by some criteria (in terms of democracy and the quality of elections).

The most frequent words used in Brussels for Georgia are "disappointment" and "fatigue", which in diplomatic language means regression and deviation from the course taken. The decline in pace and activity is also evident in terms of NATO integration. Compared to the two new NATO members (Montenegro and Northern Macedonia), Georgia has had a much more intense relationship with NATO, immeasurably more experience of cooperation with NATO forces. Georgia has been much more involved in NATO operations (for example in Afghanistan) than many other NATO members. Today, Ukraine's accession to NATO is more actively discussed than Georgia's. Georgia is practically off the agenda.

Georgia's European and Euro-Atlantic integration process needs to be reactivated, renewed and bold, active steps must be taken by Georgia to reverse this trend. The current government not only does not seek these steps, but also does not implement the existing minimum recommendations and makes a unilateral denunciation of the agreements reached (a clear rejection of judicial and electoral reforms). The current scepticism towards Georgia in Brussels is disastrous for the country. It is necessary to change the situation and demonstrate real democratic changes to the Europeans.

The primacy of values returns back into today's international relations and geopolitics. Authoritarian and dictatorial regimes led by Russia seek to create an ideological front against Western liberal democracies and undermine the political systems of the free world through numerous hybrid methods (disinformation, corruption, bribery of the political class, use of ethnic and religious networks). For a while they even succeeded in this, included in Georgia.

Fortunately, the West is already realistic about the threat and is responding adequately to the challenge by creating geopolitical and security alliances of democratic states: AUKUS in India and the Pacific, NATO in Europe and US President Joseph Biden's Summit of Democracy.

In such conditions, it is disastrous to be hesitant, or to hope that our country will remain neutral in this great controversy, or will turn to the side of the winner, regardless of who the winner will be. This strategy is wrong, because the victory of a free world and democracy is vital for Georgia. In case of the victory of authoritarianism, the state of Georgia will disappear, because small countries like ours have a guarantee of existence only in a democratic and liberal international system.

Today, as never before, domestic and foreign policy issues are closely and inextricably linked. Democratic reforms, namely the rule of law (above all a free judiciary), fair elections, the fight against corruption, media freedom, freedom of speech and expression and equality for all are important and necessary preconditions for democracy; respecting the rights of minorities by the majority and enabling them to live decent lives, rather than turning the majority against them in order to gain electoral points. Any fight against minorities is not only promoted by the Georgian Dream, but is the result of their own actions and a well-established PR strategy and the style of governing the country. Europe will never accept such Georgia in its bosom, though, in fact Georgia is not such country; they are turning it into a xenophobic country which has no place in the European family.

Democratic elections have been completely abolished in the country. I won't go far; in the last elections, the opposition won both mayoral and city council elections in five major cities. What is the situation that we have today - just the opposite. Voters went through hell of intimidation, bribery, identity theft, disgust. This was not enough and the election results were rewritten. But even this was not enough and they started recruiting opposition members in councils that had been lost through blackmail, threats and violence. One of our party members, who did not give in to this pressure, eventually died. His death is a symbol of the death of Georgian elections and the principle of self-governance.

The sowing of hatred against political opponents and the replication of calls for their destruction must cease. Otherwise, the political situation will never improve; moreover, there will be no peace and order in the society. Without these conditions, which are already reflected in the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia is in great danger. It will simply stop and be consigned to history.

Relations with our unconditional allies in the EU and NATO - the Baltic States and the countries of the so-called Visegrad Group - need to be improved. Georgia's current attitude towards these countries is detrimental to the country's interests. Aggressive and often insulting rhetoric in response to their friendly criticism only hinders our rapprochement with the West, as these countries are and have always been the most active defenders and ambassadors of our interests in the EU and in the free Western world at large.

It is necessary to have an ongoing dialogue and try to find common ground with the main capitals of the European Union: Berlin, Paris, Rome, etc.; convince them of the importance of Georgia's integration with Europe for the prosperity and stability of the continent as a whole, as well as for the restoration of historical justice for the Georgian people, their welfare and security. It is important to have an agreed and synchronized strategy with the other two countries associated with the EU: Ukraine and Moldova. Create a regular format with them and the lobbyist countries mentioned above for our region's integration into the EU and NATO. In terms of foreign trade, we should try to increase Georgia's share of trade with the EU. Georgia does not / cannot take full advantage of the opportunities provided by the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Notably, compared to Moldova (60%) and Ukraine (45%), Georgia's share of trade with the EU is significantly lower (25%). More remarkably, this share has hardly increased since the Deep and Free Trade Agreement came into force. Instead, the country has become much more dependent on the Russian market, which is also reflected in the political orientation, and conversely, the political orientation leads to a decrease in the share of the European markets and an increase in the share of Russia. This is a strategically destructive and economically serious step for the Georgian people. I am sure this is a completely conscious effort; the ongoing propaganda that Russia is the most desirable market for us and that Europe does not need our products is part of Russia's hybrid warfare.

Cultivating the idea that Georgia and Ukraine are not destined for NATO membership is wrong and is a deliberate sowing of nihilism. Geopolitical situations change dramatically and history is replete with cases where serious shifts have taken place in the shortest possible time. Such examples are abundant in modern history. This is why Georgia should be ready for this moment as much as possible, moreover, it should take continuous and consistent measures to bring this moment closer.

Until a politically favorable moment is reached, it is necessary to further deepen relations with NATO and increase technical cooperation. It is critical to be actually ready to ensure infrastructural integration with NATO in the shortest period of time after a political decision on membership is taken.

The Georgian armed forces need to be better equipped and trained, and participate in NATO peacekeeping missions. For that purpose, the budget needs to be increased. Today Georgia's defence budget is 1.7% of GDP (in Ukraine almost 4%), which is below NATO standards (2%), and this budget is mostly spent on salaries rather than on infrastructure, training and equipment.

Prior to a political decision by the Alliance to accept Georgia as a NATO member, the bilateral relationship needs to reach a point where it becomes the most deterrent factor for Russia. The partnership needs to be deepened so that the NATO military component is almost continuously present in the country in different formats and in different ways, whether on the sea, on land or air, in terms of training, country presence or logistics.

Our most important and short-term task should be to understand the format of the Intermarium format, the so-called Three Seas Initiative - the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. It is true that this format brings together only 12 EU member states across three seas, but this geopolitical alliance is getting stronger so fast in the areas of regional security as well as business cooperation, infrastructure, investment, trade, energy and digital security that it may soon become our most important and desired partner.

After Russia's annexation of Crimea and unprecedented militarisation, the region as a whole and the West are seriously concerned about Russia's desire for full domination of the Black Sea. Consequently, the Intermarium is emerging as a key regional geopolitical player and a flexible and effective platform, primarily for suppressing Russia's geopolitical ambitions and stopping its further expansion.

We have less and less time to halt Georgia's geopolitical collapse. We need to return to our historical foundations from which we were once forcibly uprooted. This is the historic mission of our people and our duty towards our homeland and our future generations.

Mikheil Saakashvili

Gori Hospital, December 23, 2021