In April 2024, Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), reintroduced the infamous “Russian Law” - officially called the “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence” for the second time. That move opened a Pandora’s box.

The consequences came fast. First, GD massively rigged the October 2024 parliamentary elections, failing to gain recognition and legitimacy internally or externally. By then, the illusion of possible free and fair elections under the Ivanishvili regime had all but disappeared, along with talks about mere “democratic backsliding”. Then, on November 28, GD announced that Georgia would completely halt the EU integration process until 2028.

These turning points finally forced the majority of Georgian public and Georgia’s Western friends to see what many of us had long warned about: that GD was in fact a Russian proxy government, and its opaque leader, Russian-made oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, was a Kremlin man – more effective than those Putin had relied on in Ukraine and Moldova. What used to be a scandalous claim became a self-evident truth. It had taken over a decade, but the realization finally dawned on us: Ivanishvili had hijacked Georgia and changed its pro-Western path, something he had plotted from the day he assumed power.

The signs were always there. From the beginning, Ivanishvili showed his pro-Russian leanings. In 2011, he said Georgia was just a “small village” and shouldn’t be caught in the middle of Russia’s conflict with the West. Ivanishvili has steadily eroded Georgia’s NATO ambitions, weakened its military, installed manifestly inapt persons in positions of power, and replaced the Geneva international talks with a closed-door “Abashidze-Karasin” format, a change highly detrimental to Georgia’s national interests.

According to many credible reports, from the very beginning GD has helped Russian secret services in obtaining crucial information about Georgian army and defense capabilities as well as assassinate members of Georgia’s elite “Kodori-2007” special ops unit.

Gradually, GD took over all branches of the government — the legislature, the executive branch and the judiciary. GD took control of local self-governments in all municipalities of Georgia through organized campaign of violence in the course of 2013, a year after it had won Parliamentary elections.

GD cracked down on media freedom (including through Russian-style takeover schemes), crushed peaceful protests, created and directed organized mobs against opponents and minorities, and introduced repressive laws in some cases harsher than those in Putin’s Russia.

So, how did this happen? Who let it happen?

Several groups could be identified who contributed to the regime cementing its grip on power: a fragmented opposition, a media with no vision, naive civil society, and passive West.

1. The Opposition: Divided and Weak

After winning the 2012 elections, GD took aim at the opposition and declared its goal to destroy it. But the United National Movement (UNM), the former ruling party, was still strong. In the 2016 Parliamentary elections, UNM got over 27% of the votes and won four key races in the first round. GD responded with violence and visible fraud. They raided voting stations to alter the results of the first round and nullify the victory of the opposition. By the second round, GD had gained a constitutional majority and was in full control of the parliament.

In 2020, after GD rigged the election yet again, main opposition parties decided to boycott Parliament. The EU stepped in to mediate. GD made a few fake compromises, designed to create the illusion of cooperation and engagement. In return, the opposition was to drop the boycott and go into Parliament, which it did, staying with no cards. Soon thereafter, GD denounced the political agreement which had been reached with the EU’s mediation and paid no price. The same thing happened after the 2021 local elections.

The 2024 parliamentary elections were another milestone. The opposition parties failed to form a united front (according to some pundits, the failure to unite was not a “mistake” but the actual goal of some compromised opposition actors). Even after the vote was clearly rigged, the opposition failed to stand together. All four major opposition coalitions boycotted the new parliament, but two of them later decided to run in the 2025 local elections, allowing GD to yet again cheat without having to pay the price.

2. Media: Losing the Information War

The critical media also made fundamental mistakes. Even after the reintroduction of the “Russian Law,” the rigged elections, and the government’s official anti-Western U-turn, some broadcasters continued to invite guests who had actively contributed to GD’s pro-Russian, antidemocratic policies as little as one of two years ago. Instead of asking the obvious questions, former GD figures (none of whom left GD by themselves but rather were fired by Ivanishvili) are routinely given a chance to whitewash their past without having to confront uncomfortable issues. This practice helped GD immensely. It normalized unrepentant former GD officials and resulted in public discontent, as well as the loss of moral high ground.

Meanwhile, GD controls major broadcasting media outlets such as Imedi, PosTV, and Rustavi2 (once an opposition voice, now completely under GD control). GD uses these outlets for powerful, consistent propaganda, unifying the best of Soviet and modern-day Russian propaganda methods. Georgian critical media, on the other hand, at best respond on an ad hoc basis, failing to grasp the bigger picture and design counter strategy and narratives.

3. NGOs: Compromised and Complicit

After GD passed the “Russian Law” in June 2024, and the regime continued to attack political opposition, active protesters and free media, some NGOs still chose to work with the regime, opting a short-sighted appeasement strategy for immediate, short-term gain. This approach failed to grasp that GD aims to destroy entirely independent civil society and replace it with the obedient so-called GONGOs. Despite this, some civil society leaders continue to collaborate with the anti-Western regime, with their family members receiving hefty government contracts. Such civil society leaders often provide a de facto lifeline to the Ivanishvili, by making outrageous comparisons with Georgia’s previous, pro-Western government, which transferred power peacefully and orderly, though elections, and thus normalizing the uniquely criminal behavior of GD leaders.

For years, many NGOs saw what was coming but chose to ignore it out of their spire for the previous government. Other GD leaders had once worked for various Western organizations or embassies and were coopted to join in exchange for their influence and network in those organizations of embassies. For far too long, friendly NGOs and civil society leaders chose silence over speaking out, pretending to fight corruption and authoritarianism with one hand, and being in cahoots with the culprits with the other.

4. The West: Indecisive and Enabling

Perhaps the most frustrating role was played by the West. Over and over, Western leaders chose not to see the obvious facts on the ground and, respectively, not to act when such action could have easily prevented Georgia’s slide into authoritarianism and departure from the Western course. In 2020, the West called GD-managed elections “mostly free and fair,” despite being clearly rigged (maybe be in reflection of the moods in the embassies, where some GD officials or their family members had intimate connections). Yet again, they helped GD stay in power by pressuring the opposition to surrender. They said little or nothing when GD began attacking the West in its media campaigns. They condoned and forgave everything to GD regime, the rabid anti-Westen rhetoric, attacks on Georgia’s allies, and a cascade of conspiracy theories designed to alienate friends and weaker Georgia. This did not change even after the adoption of the “Russian Law” the first time.

Even now, after everything Georgian people and Georgian freedom fighters have gone through during the past year, there are still no tangible actions which would hurt Georgia’s enemies who have highjacked the country. The US has still not passed the MEGOBARI Act, and the EU sanctions are far too soft. The Western hesitation to act encourages Ivanishvili and his handlers in Moscow. They see this as a weakness and as a sign that they can get away with anything. When Russia is at its weakest point since World War II, and most post-Soviet countries are moving away from Moscow, Georgia is doing the opposite.

If the West truly wants Georgia to remain on its orbit, words are no longer enough. The time to act is now. Targeted sanctions as well as real pressure on those who are trying to steal Georgia’s freedom and democratic future are needed urgently. Delay risks losing Georgia for decades.