Georgia is on a precipice right now — to one side is a fall back into Russian control and to the other is an incline leading the country forward to an independent embrace of Western values. As with any incline, this path is not without its challenges; luckily, the nation has the perfect guide in presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili, a lifelong politician and diplomat with strong ties to the West, including her advanced education at Columbia University in the United States and her many years of exemplary service in the French Foreign Service.
Sadly, many may take the easy route of falling for the lies and platitudes of presidential candidate Grigol Vashadze, a man with close ties to Russia and the former Soviet Union. Georgia is a proud country that is still working to escape from under oppression it faced from the Soviet Union and the aggression it has faced from modern-day Russia since the USSR fell. To elect Vashadze, a man who has publicly said he is “very proud” of the work he did for the Soviet Union, would be a step backward for the nation. To elect Vashadze would be an invitation for Russia to meddle in Georgia’s affairs to attempt to once again make this independent nation a Russian satellite.
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