The president of Europe-Georgia Institute – George Melashvili was invited to speak in the TV show “The News of the Day” on TV Pirveli. The topic was the challenges of Georgia’s Foreign Policy and the threats deriving from Russia.
Melashvili highlighted that the current policy of Georgia towards Russia, “non-irritation policy” as they call it, is quite inefficient. He stated, that Georgia tried almost all types of policies towards Russia and despite the fact that all the ones were ended with the loss of territories, it is still worth mentioning that establishment of explicitly pro-Western vector created the prospects of important achievements and the support from the West, including during the war in 2008. What can be said about the non-irritation policy by the current government of Georgia, whether it is deliberate or a result of lack of knowledge – it doesn’t matter, the result is the one – harm to the national interests of Georgia.
Melashvili also discussed the hybrid warfare of Russia against Georgia. He stated that we should expect that there will be more economic stimulus created by Russia in order to make Georgia give up it’s pro-Western vector. He also drew more attention to the attempt of Russia to use History as a weapon of Hybrid warfare.
The discussion also concerned the relations of Georgia and the West. According to Melashvili, rejecting Charles Michel’s document, annulling it by Georgian Dream, created the reality, when the ruling party lost the trust of the West finally and that it will impact support of Europe towards Georgia in a negative way.
There was a question about Georgia-Ukraine’s common problems and foreign policy objectives as well. Melashvili highlighted that both of those countries and all the other neighbors of Russia have a common problem. In the case of Georgia and Ukraine it is important for those countries to have a common policy in terms of relations with the EU.