Post-Soviet Georgia's Political Ambivalence towards Europe and the EU

Georgia made its intentions clear, that it strived for closer ties to the European Union, based on the shared political and cultural values and referring to the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921). These aspirations from an early stage were made by the pro-independence movement in Georgia and officially also by the government of the Republic of Georgia, declaring its will to see the country as a part of Europe. If we put official declarations aside and look at the political history of post-Soviet Georgia, we can capture the ambivalence of governmental and oppositional narratives, about Europe and the EU. One can see how it was and is presented to the Georgian society, leading us to categorize it into different parts. In my paper, I will try to reconstruct the image of Europe in Georgia that is transforming from one government to another, using media as a distributor of the discourses. This image sometimes differs from the official statement. How is the government pointing out to the EU, as a final destination? What are the major messages one or another political party use before elections, trying to achieve more voting voice? How Georgian society response, keeping mixed/ambiguous feelings, towards regarding itself as the historical part of Europe? Using constructivist approach, the paper will focus on the political actors that strengthen or weaken integrational processes of the country towards Europe, therefore keeping ambivalence, involving self-conscious contestation, reflected in media, beneficially used by political powers.