Georgian Gov't Begins Impeachment Proceedings Against Pro-EU President

The Georgian gov't has begun impeachment proceedings against the country's president, Salome Zourabichvili, after she made visits to the EU that had not been sanctioned by the gov't. According to Interpress, head of the governing Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze stated that Zourabichvili had "flagrantly violated" the constitution of Georgia, and as such the party would instigate impeachment proceedings.

• While a peripheral frontier market, the nation of Georgia in the Caucuses plays an outsized geopolitical role. It holds an Association Agreement with the EU, and it has also historically sought NATO membership. All this in spite of sitting just to the south of Russia and having two of its provinces (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) occupied by Russian forces.
• The Georgian Dream-led gov't of PM Irakli Garibashvili is nominally supportive of joining both the EU and NATO. However, in recent years there have been accusations from opponents that the party founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man, has been shifting Tbilisi's allegiances towards Russia and engendering a more authoritarian governing style.
• In early 2023, Georgia was rocked by mass protests against a 'foreign agents' bill that opponents said would shut down media and civil organisations critical of the gov't. Zourabichvili stated that she would veto the legislation if it reached her desk, although in the face of significant opposition the gov't eventually backed down.
• Should Zourabichvili be impeached, her replacement by an ally of Georgian Dream would give the gov't a much freer hand in directing the country's political and geopolitical trajectory.