TBILISI -- Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has used a speech during the South Caucasus nation's Independence Day celebrations to criticize the government over fears it is backsliding on democratic reforms.
In her speech on May 26, Zurabishvili called on the Georgian government to "keep its word" and meet society's "will to strengthen the country's independence, establish democracy, and join the European family."
"Democracy's main rule is to implement what people elected you to do. Each government promises that to the people, and the current government also promised that to the people. Moreover, the promise strengthened the path to European integration by the constitution. Today, when the Georgian people demands its implementation, where is the government?" Zurabishvili asked.
In 2022, just days after Russia's full-scale invasion of fellow former Soviet satellite Ukraine, Georgia applied for EU membership together with Ukraine and Moldova. EU leaders in June granted formal candidate status to Kyiv and Chisinau but said Tbilisi must implement reforms first.
WATCH: Georgia marked the 105th anniversary of the declaration of the first independent democratic republic on May 26. A demonstration was also held to honor the day that saw both Georgian and European Union flags flying. It was held as an answer to the cabinet’s decision to only decorate the city with Georgian national flags, opting out of also displaying the EU flag.
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Georgians March, Wave Pairs Of Flags For Independence Day
Meanwhile, the Georgian government, led by the ruling Georgian Dream party, has faced numerous accusations of backsliding on democracy, including the jailing of opponents, the silencing of independent media, covert collaboration with the Kremlin, and leading the country away from its EU membership path.
Zurabishvili said the country's current external policies "estrange us from Europe," asking her audience, "Where did the slogan: 'Europe is our civilized choice' disappear?"
The president accused the government of selling the country out with its recent decision to allow the resumption of direct flights from Moscow to Tbilisi after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree lifting a ban on air travel between the two countries, implemented four years ago after a wave of anti-Kremlin protests in the Caucasus nation.
"It is hard to understand and it is insulting when we calculate how many millions [of dollars] we get from the [flights.] Was our dignity sold for $200 or $300 million?" Zurabishvili asked the audience.
According to Zurabishvili, the Georgian government's "manipulation of the threat of a possible war [with Russia] and the scaring of its own society cannot be a formula for a successful leadership."
Zurabishvili also mentioned the issue of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Tbilisi lost control of following a short war with Russia in 2008.
"Those who think that Russia will return to us our territories in exchange of our concessions do not learn anything from our history," Zurabishvili stated.
Georgia's Act of Independence from Russia established the First Democratic Republic of Georgia on May 26, 1918. Just 2 1/2 years later, Georgia was incorporated into the Soviet Union and regained its independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.