Nino Lezhava
The opening session of the 2025 Silk Road Forum in Tbilisi featured the Prime Ministers of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, reflecting the momentum of regional cooperation (Balcani Caucaso, November 3, 2023; Tbilisi Silk Road Forum, October 22). This marked the fifth Silk Road Forum since it began in 2015 and was only the second time that prime ministers from all three states appeared in the same session. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s remarks, in which he named Georgia’s free trade agreement with the European Union as the key advantage of the country’s investment profile, attracted significant attention in contrast to the ruling Georgian Dream party’s largely anti-EU sentiments from the past few years. Kobakhidze claimed that Georgia’s strategic location, peace, and stability make the country a reliable economic partner (Business Media, October 22). The operationalization of Georgia’s infrastructure projects, including the Middle Corridor, Anaklia Port, and Black Sea Cable, will depend on credible partnerships with the West.
Georgia is currently only nominally a candidate for EU accession due to its autocratization and increased alignment with Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) (Civil.ge, June 11; see Strategic Snapshot, October 9). Georgia has more political prisoners per capita than Russia and is far from both stability and EU accession (1TV, October 20). Since 2024, Georgian Dream has held elections marred by voter pressure and Russian manipulation, violently suppressed pro-democracy protests, enacted illiberal laws, and suspended EU accession talks. During the Silk Road Forum, amid Western sanctions on Georgia and the threat of losing a visa-free regime with the European Union, Kobakhidze expressed high hopes for future joint projects with Brussels, such as the Black Sea Undersea Electric Cable initiative (Civil Georgia, July 10; Business Media, October 22).
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