TBILISI, August 29 – Georgia’s opposition the United National Movement (UNM) party is looking to Moldova for lessons on how to reclaim political power and reset the country’s path toward Europe.
This week in Chisinau, UNM chair Tina Bokuchava met with Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi, sampling advice on how to keep her country’s European aspirations alive. She was joined by UNM party secretary Giorgi Baramidze.
Bokuchava’s visit comes as strong women leaders from Eastern Europe, such as Sandu and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, have become symbols of resistance to Moscow’s influence and advocates of deeper EU integration.
Once dominating Georgia politics, UNM has struggled since losing power in 2012 to the current ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party. Its former leader Mikheil Saakashvili, who had an 18 month stint as governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region, is now serving a prison sentence in Tbilisi. Bokuchava, meanwhile, is trying to rebrand the party, unite a fractured opposition, and rally support behind a clear pro-EU course.
She pointed to Moldova’s success under Sandu, where a fragmented opposition managed to unite against the Socialist Party, securing power, and steering the country decisively toward Brussels. By contrast, Bokuchava warned that Georgia risks being sidelined because of what she called GD’s failures on the European front. Baramidze accused the government of acting as a “fifth column” for Moscow.
The ruling GD party insists it remains committed to EU membership but wants to pursue integration on Georgia’s own terms, seeking allies within the bloc on issues such as family values and sovereignty. GD leaders see UNM’s strategy as a way of stoking unrest rather than constructive dialogue.
