Could Georgia be the next Ukraine? Our writer Antonia Langford describes what it is like living on the front line of the power struggle between Russia and the EU.
My life as an eye-witness to history
Could Georgia be the next Ukraine? Our writer Antonia Langford describes what it is like living on the front line of the power struggle between Russia and the EU.
The city of Tbilisi is a palimpsestA manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed.: Silk Road caravanseraisInns with a central courtyard for travellers in the desert regions of Asia or North Africa. next to towering StalinistRelating to the Soviet statesman Stalin or his ideology and policies. monolithsLarge single upright blocks of stone, especially ones shaped into pillars or monuments, or buildings resembling such monuments. of concrete, Italian courtyards with charming Art NouveauAn energetic style in the visual arts which spanned from around the early 1890s to the First World War. motifs below Eastern Orthodox cathedrals with glinting golden domes. This contrast tells the history of a city marred by conflict, razed to the ground almost 30 times, and rebuilt on the ashes of its past.
There are the "kamikaze loggias", vernacularA native language of a particular group of people, often unwritten or unstandardised. extensions tacked haphazardly onto older apartment buildings to expand them, their erratic silhouettes revealing the lawlessness of the "Wild West" post-Soviet era.1
And there is the modern steel-and-glass "blobitectureA movement in architecture in which buildings have an organic, amoeba-shaped building form.": a "Bridge of Peace" over the Kura River and a concert hall resembling conjoined tin-foil limbs, symbolising the maniacalExhibiting wild or violent behaviour. reformism of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was determined to drag Georgia into the 21st Century on the coattails of modish European architects.2
As a journalist, this city is a bonanza. Every building holds the story of a richly complex past. And the soundscape, too, is inspiring, from the polyphonic singing and liturgical chanting, to the rhythmic cries of street vendors and the techno emanating from underground bars.
In the summer, it can be too hot to move beyond the shaded precincts and terraces; in the winter, the sky turns a sinister almost-black, the streets beset with bitter cold. By the end of October, we have certainly breached the latter season.
But I notice on Monday in the short walk from my apartment in the mountains to Rustaveli Avenue,3 home to the country's Parliament, that the cold does not seem to have perturbed the thousands of protesters streaming into the centre with EU and Georgian flags warming their shoulders.
It is a familiar sight. I was here two springs ago, when hundreds of thousands of Georgians protested against authoritarian copycat laws that their country had borrowed from Russia. Hundreds were arrested, and still more were brutalised by the police.
And just a week before, I had seen tens of thousands of Georgians rally on the street for their European future, dancing and singing in a jubilant celebration of their chance to displace the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has close ties to Russia and has implemented increasingly repressivePreventing personal freedom. legislation in recent years against LGBT people and state critics.
For many years, commentators have seen Georgia as being at a crossroads between the West and the KremlinA central fortress in a city, used to refer to a complex in Moscow with five palaces and four cathedrals. The Russian government is run from within this citadel., suspended between a bright European future and the gaping jaws of Vladimir Putin. This year's elections seemed decisive in determining whether the country would finally achieve much-coveted EU accession, or backslide into autocracyA society ruled by a single person or group with absolute power..
But amid an election marred by allegations of riggingIn this sense, manipulated or controlled by deceptive or dishonest means. by the ruling party, with video evidence appearing to show ballot stuffingA form of electoral fraud in which a greater number of ballots are cast than the number of people who legitimately voted., intimidation and vote buying, Georgian Dream claimed a decisive and unexpected victory. Many have refused to acknowledge the results.
I expected an explosive reaction from the country with everything at stake. "Is this Georgia's Maidan moment?" buzzed commentators excitedly, referring to the deadly clashes between state and people in Ukrainian capital Kyiv in 2014, which led to the ousting of Russia-aligned President Viktor Yanukovych.
But Monday's protests were comparatively tame, though pro-European protesters remain staunch in their decision to fight for their country's future. "Russia is death," summarised one person I interviewed.
This country's future is in the balance. But in Tbilisi, I get the impression of a city that can weather anything. As I walk home, the enormous silver Mother of Georgia statue glances down at me from the mountain. In one hand, she holds a sword to fight her enemies; in the other, she holds wine to greet her friends.
Could Georgia be the next Ukraine?
Yes: Georgia is on the same trajectory as Ukraine. Both have suffered from Russian aggression and war, and both have overwhelming support for a European future. It is undeniable that Georgia will be the next Ukraine.
No: Unfortunately, the protests in Georgia are not even nearly on the same scale as Ukraine yet. In contrast to Kyiv's Euromaidan protests, the Georgian people's resistance to what some are calling a "stolen election" is a little underwhelming.
Or... Georgia is already "the next Ukraine". It was invaded by Russia in 2008, but got no support at all from the Western world. The fact that it is still at this crossroads between Russia and the West is entirely the fault of the West, which was willing to turn a blind eye to Russian misadventures for too long.
Palimpsest - A manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed.
Caravanserais - Inns with a central courtyard for travellers in the desert regions of Asia or North Africa.
Stalinist - Relating to the Soviet statesman Stalin or his ideology and policies.
Monoliths - Large single upright blocks of stone, especially ones shaped into pillars or monuments, or buildings resembling such monuments.
Art Nouveau - An energetic style in the visual arts which spanned from around the early 1890s to the First World War.
Vernacular - A native language of a particular group of people, often unwritten or unstandardised.
Blobitecture - A movement in architecture in which buildings have an organic, amoeba-shaped building form.
Maniacal - Exhibiting wild or violent behaviour.
Repressive - Preventing personal freedom.
Kremlin - A central fortress in a city, used to refer to a complex in Moscow with five palaces and four cathedrals. The Russian government is run from within this citadel.
Autocracy - A society ruled by a single person or group with absolute power.
Rigging - In this sense, manipulated or controlled by deceptive or dishonest means.
Ballot stuffing - A form of electoral fraud in which a greater number of ballots are cast than the number of people who legitimately voted.
My life as an eye-witness to history

Glossary
Palimpsest - A manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed.
Caravanserais - Inns with a central courtyard for travellers in the desert regions of Asia or North Africa.
Stalinist - Relating to the Soviet statesman Stalin or his ideology and policies.
Monoliths - Large single upright blocks of stone, especially ones shaped into pillars or monuments, or buildings resembling such monuments.
Art Nouveau - An energetic style in the visual arts which spanned from around the early 1890s to the First World War.
Vernacular - A native language of a particular group of people, often unwritten or unstandardised.
Blobitecture - A movement in architecture in which buildings have an organic, amoeba-shaped building form.
Maniacal - Exhibiting wild or violent behaviour.
Repressive - Preventing personal freedom.
Kremlin - A central fortress in a city, used to refer to a complex in Moscow with five palaces and four cathedrals. The Russian government is run from within this citadel.
Autocracy - A society ruled by a single person or group with absolute power.
Rigging - In this sense, manipulated or controlled by deceptive or dishonest means.
Ballot stuffing - A form of electoral fraud in which a greater number of ballots are cast than the number of people who legitimately voted.