Salome Zourabichvili: There is total chaos in Georgia; the oligarch at the helm of the regime now trusts only his own son—this is certainly not a sign of strength - yes, regimes are repressive, but they are also weak, and we should not be afraid

"There is total chaos—the oligarch leading the regime now trusts only his own son. It is certainly not a sign of strength when you bring your family to the forefront because you have no one else to trust; nothing is more fragile than an authoritarian regime," stated Salome Zourabichvili, the fifth President of Georgia, during a panel discussion at the Warsaw Security Forum.

According to her, Europe should not accept what the Georgian people do not accept.

"Nothing is more fragile than an authoritarian regime. From the outside—and sometimes even from within—these regimes appear strong as they ramp up repression, yet internally they are very weak, and Georgia is a case in point today. There is an increasing number of prisoners from the authorities' own ranks—members of their 'old guard'—being jailed for corruption. It is total chaos. The oligarch at the helm of the regime now trusts only his own son. It is certainly not a sign of strength when you push your family to the forefront because you have no one else to trust. The notion that they are authoritarians backed by Russia—and that they are here to stay—existed before the collapse of the Soviet Union, too, yet it collapsed. Yes, these regimes are repressive and powerful, but they are also weak, and we should not fear them. This applies to Europe as well; they should not accept the situation that we refuse to accept," stated Zurabishvili.