Georgia

Georgia is a nation of the Caucasus, at the far eastern edge of Europe, with an ancient culture, a proud history and a population whose attachment to the European project has been written, quite literally, into its constitution. Granted candidate status in December 2023, Georgia carried the European hopes of a society that has repeatedly taken to the streets in their defence.

Those hopes are now in grave danger. Following the adoption of a so-called "foreign influence" law and a broader authoritarian turn, the European Union has found Georgia to be sharply backsliding on the rule of law and fundamental rights, and its accession process has effectively been frozen — the government itself having suspended the European path. Caught between the democratic aspirations of its people and a leadership drifting away from European values, and under constant pressure from its powerful northern neighbour, Georgia has become a frontline in the wider struggle between democracy and authoritarianism.

A nation whose citizens refuse to let their European future be taken from them, Georgia speaks to the very core of the European Democrats' purpose: standing with the democrats, the protesters and the free voices who keep the European dream alive, even when their own governments turn away from it. Their fight is Europe's fight.