Ahead of Georgians’ crucial decision on October 26, Russia’s war in Ukraine is a major theme in the ruling party’s parliamentary election campaign.
Georgian pictures of tranquility are juxtaposed with billboards showing burned-out buses, school classrooms, and bombed-out Ukrainian churches and swimming pools.
The subtext is that Georgian Dream can provide peace, while the opposition will bring Georgia into a conflict akin to that of Ukraine.
In a nation of 3.7 million people that borders Russia and had a brief but terrible battle with its neighbor in 2008, it is a potent message.
The opposition, which is represented in the next elections by a number of pro-Western alliances, claims that the loss of Georgian democracy and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to join the European Union pose the true threat.
An image of an intact church in Georgia with the words “choose peace” opposite to a devastated church in Ukraine that reads “no to war” is displayed on an election billboard.
Georgian Dream’s election billboard features an intact Georgian cathedral with the slogan “choose peace” opposite to a devastated church in Ukraine with the phrase “no to war.”
Although Georgia was granted candidate status to join the EU in December 2023, the EU has halted the membership process because of Georgian Dream’s heightened anti-Western rhetoric and the adoption of it.
