Georgia's foreign policy priority. Relations with the European Union before and after the change of government

Abstract

Saakashvili and his government had a strongly articulated pro-Western foreign policy discourse directed at Georgia’s integration into the EU and NATO. However, the actions of the government often did not follow the EU guidelines. This inconsistency was particularly vivid in Georgia’s ultra-liberal economic policies and poor level of democratic change. The parliamentary elections in 2012 put a new government in charge of the country’s foreign policy. Ivanishvili’s government fully shares its predecessor’s European aspirations, but also introduced a new dimension in the country’s foreign policy agenda: normalization of relations with Russia. While the opposition fears that the Russian dimension will endanger EU-Georgia cooperation, the pragmatic foreign policy approach of the current government leaves much hope for the closer political association and deeper economic integration of Georgia with the EU.