{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,30]],"date-time":"2026-10-30T17:38:15Z","timestamp":1793381895205,"version":"4.5.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.12688\/openreseurope.23973.1","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000}}],"reference-count":30,"publisher":"CERN","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784764800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Cooperation in Science and Technology","award":["CA23102"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CA23102"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01bstzn19","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Open Res Europe"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This country report examines the relationship between populism and Euroscepticism in Georgia, a case in which support for European integration has long constituted one of the most stable elements of public and political consensus. It traces how this consensus has become increasingly politicised under conditions of democratic erosion, geopolitical insecurity, and the Russia\u2013Ukraine war. The report argues that Euroscepticism in Georgia has moved from the political margins to the centre of state power, through its growing articulation by populist political actors. While the Conservative Movement\/Alt-Info articulates hard Euroscepticism through anti-liberal, nativist and openly pro-Russian narratives, the ruling Georgian Dream has developed a softer but increasingly assertive form of conditional Euroscepticism. Instead of opposing EU membership directly, Georgian Dream repackages European integration in terms of sovereignty, peace, tradition, dignity, and resistance to external coercion. Moreover, the ruling party\u2019s populist rhetoric portrays itself as the guardian of \u201cthe people\u201d against all domestic forces that oppose its policies, as well as liberal civil society, the embassies of other states in Georgia, and the EU elites themselves. In this context, Euroscepticism becomes not merely a foreign-policy position, but a populist instrument of regime legitimation and authoritarian consolidation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/openreseurope.23973.2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T07:29:07Z","timestamp":1784791747000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.68336\/openreseurope.updatepolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["EUPopLink Country report - Georgia"],"prefix":"10.68336","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9239-7441","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sandro","family":"Tabatadze","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Assistant Professor, Political Science, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Tbilisi, Georgia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-9391-3751","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Bacho","family":"Khuroshvili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"PhDc, Institute of Political Science, University of Wroc\u0142aw, Wroc\u0142aw, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"13904","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"112649","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12688\/openreseurope.22680.1"},{"key":"112650","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12688\/openreseurope.23109.1"},{"key":"112651","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.30965\/23761202-bja10022"},{"key":"112652","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31578\/jss.v3i2.78"},{"key":"112653","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.11610\/Connections.13.4.04"},{"key":"112654","unstructured":"6. Khuroshvili BB, Safaryan S, Ta\u015fk\u0131n M\u00d6: Government Policy Towards European Integration and Its Features in Georgia, Armenia and T\u00fcrkiye. European Journal of Transformation Studies. 2024; 12(1): 109\u2013133. Reference Source (https:\/\/czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl\/index.php\/journal-transformation\/article\/view\/11833)"},{"key":"112655","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09557570500501754"},{"key":"112656","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.58036\/stss.v6i1.171"},{"key":"112657","unstructured":"9. Mestvirishvili N, Mestvirishvili M: \u2018I am Georgian and therefore I am European\u2019: Re-searching the Europeanness of Georgia. Central European Journal of International and Security Studies. 2014; 8(1): 78\u201390. Reference Source (https:\/\/cejiss.org\/i-am-georgian-and-therefore-i-am-european-re-searching-the-europeanness-of-georgia)"},{"key":"112658","unstructured":"10. Tabatadze S: Party-Based Euroscepticism: The Case of Georgia. Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization. 2022; 30(2): 239\u2013260. Reference Source (https:\/\/muse.jhu.edu\/verify?url=%2Fpub%2F280%2Farticle%2F853510%2Fsummary&r=3878150)"},{"key":"112659","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17645\/pag.v8i4.3370"},{"key":"112660","unstructured":"12. Gogsadze G: Populism in Georgia: Discourses and Narratives Against Sexual Minorities in Parliamentary Elections (2016\u20132020). European Journal of Transformation Studies. 2023; 11(1): 7\u201325. Reference Source (https:\/\/czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl\/index.php\/journal-transformation\/article\/view\/11271)"},{"key":"112661","unstructured":"13. Samkharadze N: Deconstructing Modern Georgian Populism: Narratives from Political Parties to Social Movements. Georgian Institute of Politics Policy Memo No. 33. 2020 Feb. Reference Source (https:\/\/gip.ge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Policy-Memo-33.pdf)"},{"key":"112662","unstructured":"14. Silagadze G: Who is (not) Populist in Georgia? Making Sense of the Buzzword. Georgian Institute of Politics Policy Memo No. 34. 2020 Feb. Reference Source (https:\/\/gip.ge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Policy-memo-34.pdf)"},{"key":"112663","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2478\/pn-2019-0016"},{"key":"112664","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/nps.2021.15"},{"key":"112665","unstructured":"17. Kandelaki S: From Elections to Elections: Transformation of the Georgian Ruling Party \u201cGeorgian Dream\u201d. Georgian Institute of Politics Policy Memo No. 76. 2024 Oct. Reference Source (https:\/\/gip.ge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Policy-Memo-76-1.pdf)"},{"key":"112666","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1163\/25888072-BJA10010"},{"key":"112667","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/23745118.2021.1956240"},{"key":"112668","unstructured":"20. Oravec P, Holland EC: The Georgian Dream? Outcomes from the Summer of Protest, 2018. Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization. 2019; 27(2): 249\u2013256. Reference Source (https:\/\/www.demokratizatsiya.pub\/archive)"},{"key":"112669","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14683857.2025.2473171"},{"key":"112670","unstructured":"22. Kakachia K, Samkharadze N: People\u2019s Power or Populist Pawns? Examining Georgia\u2019s New Anti-Western Political Movement. Georgian Institute of Politics Policy Memo No. 63. 2022 Dec. Reference Source (https:\/\/gip.ge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Policy-Memo-63-1.pdf)"},{"key":"112671","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14683857.2023.2269780"},{"key":"112672","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5040\/9781350335257.ch-007"},{"key":"112673","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.30965\/23761202-20230003"},{"key":"112674","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"26. Gersamia M, Toradze M, Bandzeladze M: Media Environment 2023: Challenges during Political Polarization and Crisis in Georgia. Media and Communication Educational and Research Center \u201cMedia Voice\u201d;2023. 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