Georgian opposition faces financial woes as Zourabichvili's promises fall short Disappointment with France

The status of former President Salome Zourabichvili as the "de facto leader of the opposition" in Georgia has begun to waver. It all started with new guilty verdicts and additional sentences handed down by the court to another former president, Mikheil Saakashvili. Supporters of the third president accused Salome Zourabichvili of failing to use her presidential pardon power for Mikheil Saakashvili during her tenure.

Opposition leaders have started to distance themselves sharply from Salome Zourabichvili. For instance, former chairman of the "National Movement" Levan Khabeishvili recently stated outright: "I am not interested in Zourabichvili, she is no longer the president." By doing so, he and his associates are making it clear that they no longer support Zourabichvili’s self-proclaimed status as the "only legitimate president."

"Saakashvili's supporters are very angry with Salome Zourabichvili because she did not pardon Mikheil Saakashvili. Zourabichvili attempted to take on Saakashvili’s role and become the leader of the collective 'National Movement.' However, all instructions from 'external handlers' were disrupted at the level of the radical opposition precisely because of Zourabichvili. They followed her but ended up outside the parliament, and the protests changed nothing—their energy has been completely exhausted," said Levan Machavariani, an MP from the ruling party.

In principle, one could assume that even if such a pardon had been granted, Mikheil Saakashvili would have remained in custody, as investigations were still ongoing into the cases for which he has now received new sentences. However, there is another well-known reason why Zourabichvili did not even attempt to secure Saakashvili’s release—they have different external patrons.

The former French citizen and employee of France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is unequivocally aligned with Paris, whereas Saakashvili never became a "pro-French" politician—neither during his presidency nor after leaving office and moving to Ukraine, where he served as governor of the strategically and economically significant Odesa region in 2015–2016. Incidentally, the fact that Mikheil Saakashvili did not "last long" as Odesa’s governor is also partly due to his conflict with politicians advancing French interests in Ukraine, particularly with the then-Minister of Internal Affairs, ethnic Armenian Arsen Avakov.

However, the most important thing is that it has already become clear to all opposition leaders that, in the current situation, betting on France automatically means that there will be no chances of coming to power with the help of the United States. The reason is simple: France, under Macron's leadership, is trying to counter the new policies of the Trump administration within the Western community. The confrontation between Trump and Macron became particularly evident regarding the issue of war and peace in Ukraine.

While Donald Trump insists on an immediate ceasefire, Macron is organizing démarches to support the continuation of the war in Ukraine. Specifically, he hosted the heads of defense ministries from more than 30 countries to ensure the continuation of military actions from the Ukrainian side. Additionally, Macron, in his televised address to the French people, stated that Paris would organize a meeting of chiefs of staff from the armed forces of countries supporting Kyiv to discuss the potential deployment of a European contingent in Ukraine, which Moscow categorically opposes.

Thus, France is betting not on "peace" in Ukraine, but on expanding the scale of the war and involving new countries, lacking both the means and resources to do so, while effectively trying to force the U.S. to maintain the policies of the previous Joe Biden administration. Macron is building an "anti-Trump coalition" in the West—this became evident after his demonstrative support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following public disagreements with Donald Trump in the White House’s Oval Office. Almost simultaneously, Salome Zourabichvili also expressed her support for Zelenskyy, which is hard to interpret as anything other than an "anti-Trump démarche." Moreover, in her statement, she made an unfriendly remark towards Trump.

In her support for Zelenskyy after his controversial meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Zourabichvili addressed the Ukrainian president on the social network X: "Those that understand what it means to have to defend one’s territory, independence and freedom - not once but repeatedly over the past two centuries- are siding with you Mr President." At the same time, clearly criticizing Trump, she wrote: " The first time I had to head a negotiation on my own, many years ago, a more experienced colleague taught me the basics: ‘you’re allowed any move, but never … never humiliate your counterpart’! To be meditated by those who want to be seen as peacemakers! Not sure that this is a demonstration of America First … looks more  like America  seconding Putin’s Russia. At a time when we all need a strong America together with a stronger Europe. It seems we are finally seeing the latter emerge!"

Interestingly, Volodymyr Zelenskyy quickly apologized to Donald Trump, expressing regret over the incident in the Oval Office. However, there was no apology or retraction of the anti-Trump post from Zourabichvili. This means that Salome Zourabichvili, with her post on the social network X, effectively "exposed" the Georgian opposition, presenting it in a negative light to the current administration of the White House.

Bloomberg reports directly that French President Macron’s initiatives concerning Ukraine are putting him on a collision course with U.S. President Donald Trump. Therefore, it is unlikely that the U.S. will support the return to power of politicians like Zourabichvili, which could strengthen France's influence in such a key region as the South Caucasus. Moreover, instead of seeking ways for peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, France has been actively working to open a "second front" in Georgia and doing everything possible to ignite a new regional war by arming Armenia. Additionally, it remains unclear how Paris and its puppets will behave in the highly likely conflict between Washington and Tehran.

It is no coincidence that the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, after the recent démarches by Zourabichvili, who calls herself the "legitimate president," held meetings and constructive discussions with Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister. "Ambassador Dunnigan met Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili today to outline President Trump and Secretary Rubio’s top priorities and steps that Georgia can take to demonstrate its seriousness about improving its relationship with the United States," stated the U.S. Embassy in Georgia, hinting at the alignment of Georgia's current policies with the core principles of the Trump administration. Zourabichvili also managed to secure a meeting with the American ambassador, but in reality, she did so as a private individual.

While Salome Zourabichvili believes that a united Europe is "coming to the forefront," it is clear that the EU has neither the funds to support Ukraine nor, even less so, the Georgian opposition. The European Union, which Zourabichvili hopes will support her, has excluded Georgia and the issue of supporting the Georgian opposition from its agenda. On March 19, 2025, Zourabichvili sent a joint letter to the Georgian opposition and the European Council to remind them of Georgia's situation. As she complains in the letter, the European Council's agenda includes issues related to Ukraine, new defense projects, and their financing, yet Georgia is absent from the agenda.

"Georgia cannot be viewed as merely an isolated political crisis; it is part of a broader crisis that affects Europe as a whole—one that has manifested in military aggression in Ukraine but appears in a different, hybrid form in Georgia. This same aggression targets Georgia’s independence, democracy, and European identity. This battle does not take the form of traditional military conflict; rather, it first emerged through electoral manipulation and now continues with the current ruling regime’s attempts to erode Georgia’s freedom, independence, and European identity," believes Zourabichvili.

Meanwhile, within the opposition, there is growing frustration with Salome Zourabichvili due to her demonstrative "turn" from the U.S. and Donald Trump towards the EU and France, especially given that even the EU is losing interest in Georgia. In the context of the U.S. halting NGO funding through USAID, and France and other European "friends" having no money for the Georgian opposition, the financial crisis among oppositionists is deepening. This was pointed out by Levan Machavariani, who explained the reasons for the opposition’s disillusionment with Salome Zourabichvili.

“She promised financial inflows, planning to bring 120 million euros from the EU to support NGOs, but was unable to deliver on this promise, and now there is growing frustration directed towards her. The opposition is waiting for instructions from abroad, but it seems the process is being delayed. Likely, the bureaucrats giving these instructions are currently preoccupied with issues of another level. It is probable that secondary countries, such as the Baltic states, are involved in passing on these instructions. The opposition is confused, they don't know what the next steps will be,” stated Levan Machavariani, a member of the ruling party.

Meanwhile, financial support for Georgia's pro-Western opposition is more crucial than ever. The Georgian authorities have not only increased penalties and fines for illegal activities during opposition-organized protests but have also begun freezing the accounts of funds that were used to pay these fines, support lawyers, and assist the families of opposition members who were arrested for violating the law. At the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Tbilisi City Court imposed a freeze on the bank accounts of five charitable foundations and NGOs on March 17, 2025. The funds held in these accounts were used to support the families of over 50 arrested protest participants and to pay administrative fines ranging from 500 to 5000 lari ($180-1,800) per protester. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, most of the funds were directed towards encouraging individuals who engaged in illegal and criminal activities, as well as purchasing equipment and resources necessary for committing these crimes.

In these circumstances, the support from Salome Zourabichvili for calls to "find resources to preserve Radio Free Europe," which lost funding after a decision by US President Donald Trump, is seen by many opposition figures as mockery. Not to mention that her demonstrative backing of the closing Radio Free Europe (which has always supported Trump's opponents—the Democratic Party in the US) only worsens the current State Department's attitude toward the Georgian opposition. Zourabichvili raises "global issues," supporting the President of Ukraine and Radio Free Europe, while the opposition loses its last financial resources, and participants in "pro-European" protests in Georgia face the prospect of falling into debt. This inevitably leads to two outcomes: first, the number of people willing to break the law in order to continue anti-government protests sharply decreases, and second, Zourabichvili, who aspires to become the "leader of the opposition," increasingly irritates other opposition leaders. Just like France, which has put its "clients" in Georgia on a hunger strike, but continues to generously finance and arm the regime in Yerevan.

Vladimir Tskhvediani, Georgia, exclusively for Caliber.Az