time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. not so long ago, western powers viewed georgia as a trailblazer for political and economic freedom in the troubled caucasus region. there was talk of the possibility of eventual eu membership or maybe nato. now, well, the talk is of darker trends authoritarianism, repression of opposition and nagging questions about russia s influence. my guest is georgia s president, salome zourabichvili. does georgia currently have more in common with belarus than belgium? president salome zourabichvili in tbilisi. thank you for having me on hardtalk. it is a great pleasure having you on the show. let me ask you a question about your own past. not so long ago, you were the french ambassador in tbilisi, representing france. in that position, what do you think you would have made of the politics of georgia today? first of all, it was 15 years ago that i was the french ambassador to georgia, after having been a daughter of a georgia
it is 4.30 in the morning, time now for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. not so long ago, western powers viewed georgia as a trailblazer for political and economic freedom in the troubled caucasus region. there was talk of the possibility of eventual eu membership or maybe nato. now, well, the talk is of darker trends authoritarianism, repression of opposition and nagging questions about russia s influence. my guest is georgia s president, with belarus than belgium? president salome zourabichvili in tbilisi. thank you for having me on hardtalk. it is a great pleasure having you on the show. let me ask you a question about your own past. not so long ago, you were the french ambassador in tbilisi, representing france. in that position, what do you think you would have made of the politics of georgia today? first of all, it was 15 years ago that i was the french ambassador to georgia, after having been a daughter of a georgian emigre family in france and havi
welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. not so long ago, western powers viewed georgia as a trailblazer for political and economic freedom in the troubled caucasus region. there was talk of the possibility of eventual eu membership or maybe nato. now, well, the talk is of darker trends authoritarianism, repression of opposition and nagging questions about russia s influence. my guest is georgia s president, salome zourabichvili. does georgia currently have more in common with belarus than belgium? president salome zourabichvili in tbilisi. thank you for having me on hardtalk. it is a great pleasure having you on the show. let me ask you a question about your own past. not so long ago, you were the french ambassador in tbilisi, representing france. in that position, what do you think you would have made of the politics of georgia today? first of all, it was 15 years ago that i was the french ambassador to georgia, after having been a daughter of a georgian emigre family in
welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. not so long ago, western powers viewed georgia as a trailblazer for political and economic freedom in the troubled caucasus region. there was talk of the possibility of eventual eu membership or maybe nato. now, well, the talk is of darker trends authoritarianism, repression of opposition and nagging questions about russia s influence. my guest is georgia s president, salome zourabichvili. does georgia currently have more in common with belarus than belgium? president salome zourabichvili in tbilisi. thank you for having me on hardtalk. it is a great pleasure having you on the show. let me ask you a question about your own past. not so long ago, you were the french ambassador in tbilisi, representing france. in that position, what do you think you would have made of the politics of georgia today? first of all, it was 15 years ago that i was the french ambassador to georgia, after having been a daughter of a georgian emigre family in