Eleven new statues of Joseph Stalin have been erected in Georgia since the current ruling party, Georgian Dream, came to power in 2012. Despite the fact that only fifteen years ago the war with Russia had passed, which ended in Russian occupation of 20 percent of Georgia's territory.
Stalin may be the most famous Georgian in history, but he also violated his own people when he came to power in Moscow. Tens of thousands of Georgians were murdered and deported during the Great Purge of the 30s.
Therefore, new statues of the dictator may seem contradictory. As well as church services in his memory, theatrical performances that glorify him and opinion polls that show a rising popularity among the population.
"Proud of Stalin"
A poll shows that 46 percent think that "a patriotic Georgian should be proud of Stalin," said Giorgi Kandelaki, a former member of parliament and journalist, who now works for the Soviet Past Research Laboratory, Sovlab, in Tbilisi.
Sovlab is a partner organization of the Russian Peace Prize laureates Memorial, and works to map and analyze totalitarian Soviet history. According to them, Stalin's rising popularity is not due to any "Soviet nostalgia", the phenomenon is spread across generational boundaries.
Blaming Russia
Sovlab therefore blames Russian disinformation campaigns for the development, as well as the Georgian government and the Orthodox Church, for allowing it. Russia, the organization says, wants to take Georgia – which aspires to membership in both the EU and NATO – further away from Western Europe. And alluding to people's patriotism is effective.
"Stalin serves as a gateway to propaganda. If, as a Georgian, you feel that you can feel proud of Stalin, just a little bit, you are more vulnerable to other tactical narratives of disinformation," says Giorgi Kandelaki.
The Culture News has reached out to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and representatives of the country's Ministry of Culture.