L'Express published an article by Régis Genté headlined "La Géorgie poursuit son rêve européen" ("Georgia pursues its European Dream").
"When in October 2012 billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili promised to overthrow President Saakashvili, who was accused of authoritarian rule, he was no one but a mysterious oligarch believed to be a Kremlin puppet," the article reads.
"He then won two elections - the parliamentary election in October 2012 and the presidential election, during which his protégé Georgy Margelashvili was elected president. One has to admit that, as prime minister, Ivanishvili maintained a pro-Western course," the author writes.
At the end of November the new president will take part in the Vilnius summit, during which Georgia is expected to sign an agreement concerning its associate membership in the European Union, Régis Genté underlines.
At the same time, Ivanishvili says he pays special attention to the Putin-sponsored Eurasian Union project and notes he wants to restore relations with Russia. According to experts, such an ambiguous position is unwise, the author writes. The Georgian authorities are supposed to avoid such equivocacy while dealing with its European and American partners, she believes.
However this approach is based on the complicated character of the ruling coalition, she writes. According to the author of the article, the Georgian people, influenced greatly by the Orthodox Church, have strong ties with Russian culture and the government has to take this into consideration.
That is why the cabinet will probably enhance its efforts to integrate into the European Union as soon as possible, she writes.
