GEORGISCHES ZENTRUM IM AUSLAND E.V.
We are
GZA
GZA connects Georgian civil society, knowledge and culture with the European public sphere.
Current GZA work · Berlin · 2026
EVENTS / UPCOMING
Upcoming
events.
Talks, panels and cultural days by GZA and its partners — join us.
EVENT / LITERATURE
11.10.2026 · BERLIN
Georgian and German publishers, literature and a community shaping a more diverse programme together.
PAST EVENTS
EVENT DETAILS FROM GZA’S OFFICIAL INSTAGRAM CHANNEL.
WHAT WE DO
Knowledge becomes voice.
Voice becomes action.
01
Advocacy
Represent Georgia’s democratic and European future in public.
02
Knowledge
Analysis, translations and context for a European audience.
03
Action
Demonstrations, campaigns, events and culture.
04
Network
Connect diaspora, partners and civil society across borders.
POLITICAL MAP OF EUROPE
We are
Europe.
For Georgia, Europe is more than geography: it is a civic choice, an institutional process and a living network.
Click Georgia to open the country profile. Inset: Georgia – hatched: territories occupied by russia.
Map basis: Proger / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Inset: Orlovic, Alaexis, Mircalla22 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
01
A civic choice
Georgia’s European orientation is carried by citizens and civil society.
Culture, language and public discourse connect Georgian experience with Europe.
EU INTEGRATION PROCESS
A path with concrete milestones — and a present standstill.
2024—Today
Accession process at a standstill
The European Council states that Georgia’s EU accession process came to a de facto halt in 2024. The European aspirations of the Georgian people remain.
Sources: Council of the EU · EEAS
ACTIONS / PUBLIC SPACE
GZA is active
now.
26.05.2026 · BERLIN
Independence, freedom and a European future
PUBLIC EVENT
2026 · BERLIN
Dialogue on European security
CONFERENCE / DIALOGUE
09.04.2026 · BERLIN
Memory becomes public space
COMMEMORATION / ACTION
11.10.2026 · BERLIN
Georgian Book Day Berlin
LITERATURE / CULTURE
BOOKS / PUBLICATIONS
Books
Georgian literature, publishers and a community are shaping a diverse book day together in Berlin.
POLL FINISHED. CROWDFUNDING STARTED.
Georgian Book Day
11 October · Berlin
Let’s make this day fun and diverse together. Support our campaign!
RAISED SO FAR
70 €
NEXT GOAL
200 €
130 € to go before the next milestone, 200 €.
CAMPAIGN MILESTONES
The Foundation
200 €
The First Page
500 €
A New Chapter
750 €
The Plot Twist
1.000 €
The Grand Finale
1.500 €
WHO WE ARE
A Georgian civic organisation abroad — rooted in Berlin, connected across Europe.
GZA – Georgisches Zentrum im Ausland e.V. brings together political education, knowledge, culture and public action. The organisation works with Georgian civil society and diaspora networks.
Georgisches Zentrum
im Ausland e.V.
LEGAL NOTICE
Georgisches Zentrum im Ausland e.V.
Mariannenstraße 8, 10999 Berlin, Germany
Email: info@gzaeurope.org
Phone: 000000
REGISTER & RESPONSIBILITY
Authorised board member: Elguja (Giorgi) Kakabadze
Register court: Amtsgericht Charlottenburg (Berlin)
Register number: VR 42077 B
In 1801, russia issued a manifesto abolishing Georgian statehood.
In 1802, russian troops detained the unarmed Georgian nobility inside an Orthodox church and forced them to swear allegiance to the russian Emperor.
Also in 1802, the first uprising against russian rule took place.
From 1801 onward, russia persecuted the Georgian language and attempted to replace it with russian.
From 1801 onward, russia destroyed ancient Georgian historical monuments.
Between 1811 and 1814, under the pretext of a “shared Orthodox faith,” russia abolished the approximately 1,300-year-old autocephaly of the Georgian Church.
After 1801, Georgians were persecuted, oppressed, mistreated and humiliated by russia.
From 1801 onward, russia violently suppressed numerous uprisings, dismantled existing Georgian administrative structures and reorganised Georgian territory into governorates.
From 1801 onward, russia resettled Georgians to the far eastern regions of the russian Empire while settling other population groups on Georgian territory.
From 1801 onward, russia suppressed free thought and ideas concerning Georgian independence.
In 1918, Georgia freed itself from the russian Empire and became one of Europe’s first states governed by social democrats.
From 1918 onward, the Bolsheviks attempted to overthrow the Georgian state.
In 1920, the first attempt to Sovietise Georgia took place.
On 7 May 1920, Soviet russia recognised Georgia’s independence.
In 1921, Soviet russia violated the treaty it had concluded with Georgia and occupied the country.
In 1924, the uprising for Georgian independence was violently suppressed.
Between 1921 and 1937, a large proportion of Georgia’s intellectuals were executed.
In 1956, protests by Georgian students were violently suppressed, with up to 150 young people killed.
In 1978, an attempt was made to abolish the status of the Georgian language.
On 9 April 1989, a peaceful demonstration was violently and bloodily suppressed.
In 1991, Georgia declared its independence.
In 1992–1993, according to this account, russia provoked the conflict in Abkhazia and subsequently became directly involved as a party to the conflict.
In 1992–1993, according to this account, russia also provoked the Georgian civil war and supported putschists against the legitimate government; the text states that senior russian KGB officials were among the insurgents.
During the war in Abkhazia, numerous Georgians were brutally tortured and killed on ethnic grounds.
Evacuation aircraft were shot down on several occasions.
In 2006, ethnic Georgians were deported from russia on cargo aircraft and subjected to degrading treatment.
From 2008 onward, provocations began in the Tskhinvali region and preparations for war commenced.
On 1 August 2008, the evacuation of Tskhinvali began.
In August 2008, fire was opened on Georgian checkpoints.
On 6 August 2008, russian troops occupied the Roki Tunnel and deployed in the Tskhinvali area.
On 7 August 2008, Georgia entered the war.
The Third Century of russian Imperialism
Georgian resistance to russia has a long history. Since the nineteenth century, russia has sought to erase Georgia from the political map. It first attempted to do so in 1801, when Georgian statehood was abolished.
In 1918, Georgia succeeded in freeing itself from the russian Empire and establishing a progressive social-democratic state. However, the new incarnation of the russian Empire — Soviet russia — refused to accept this. In 1921, in violation of international rules, it occupied Georgia and forcibly incorporated the country into the Soviet Union.
Yet this did not extinguish the desire for freedom. Despite extensive repression, Georgia witnessed several uprisings against Soviet rule, which were violently suppressed by russian and Soviet forces.
In 1991, the Georgian people finally achieved their aspiration to live in an independent state and to rejoin their historic European family.
The struggle for freedom, however, is not over. russia, still bound to nineteenth-century imperial ideas, continues to seek to bring Georgia back into its sphere of influence through aggressive means.
Today, we have an opportunity to make our voice heard in Europe, so that Georgia is not left alone in its resistance to russian imperialism!
20% of Georgia’s territory is occupied by russia