“This is a hybrid strategy, a hybrid aggression that Georgia is experiencing today, and it could happen in any country, even without shared borders with Russia,” said Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, during her speech at the Global Europe Forum.

“Today, this hybrid strategy, this hybrid aggression that Georgia is living through, can occur in any country, even without shared borders with Russia. Russia is testing you when it tests Georgia. Responding to this primarily means recognizing hybrid threats early, before the roots are irreversibly established. Electoral fairness, media pluralism, and the rule of law become security imperatives.

All cases of electoral manipulation and propaganda should be studied, and proactive measures taken to mitigate and prevent them. This also means supporting civil society - not just through statements that Europe no longer recognizes Georgia’s regime as a candidate country and will help civil society defend itself. Those are statements, but the reality on the ground is lacking.

It is very important to show Russia and other countries that when democracy is at risk, there is action, not just words. And in this, we must see solidarity and action. Georgia’s struggle is not peripheral for Europe’s future - it is a warning. And if the normalization of democratic backsliding near Europe’s borders can happen for Russia without any cost, then its repetition is possible within Europe’s borders,” Zurabishvili stated.