Armenia — a member of Moscow’s Collective Security Treaty Organization — seems decidedly cooling on Moscow, while Georgia appears to be getting friendlier, Politico says in a fresh article.

“Even by the disorderly standards of Georgian politics, last week’s Independence Day celebration in Tbilisi’s Liberty Square was strikingly odd, with the country’s feuding president and prime minister delivering dueling speeches to the crowd,” the article said.

“President Salome Zourabichvili — who stood as an independent candidate in 2018, winning with the support of the ruling Georgian Dream Party — renewed her criticism of the government for what she dubbed its “anti-Western policy,” and focused sharply on the recent restoration of direct flights with Russia, describing them as “incomprehensible and insulting.”

“For his part, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili insisted that Georgia’s “progress on the path to European integration is particularly impressive,” reassuring the packed square that he’s sparing no effort to persuade the European Union that Georgia deserves to be granted candidate status. “In today’s most difficult geopolitical situation, we, the government of Georgia and the Georgian people, expect Europe to make the only correct and fair decision,” he said.

“However, his apparent enthusiasm for the EU would have had more force if the government buildings overlooking the square had been flying EU flags as they usually do. But for the first time in years, this Independence Day, the Cabinet decided to decorate the city with only Georgian flags. And according to both opposition lawmakers and pro-EU activists, this absence is further evidence of a tilt toward Russia — one conveyed mostly in winks and nudges.

“That was certainly the view of a few hundred pro-EU activists too, as they waved EU flags and chanted “Georgia, Europe,” while blocked from nearing the Liberty Square celebrations by a police line. “They’re just troublemakers,” the head of the Georgian National Police told me dismissively after escaping a mob of TV reporters who’d beelined for him when scuffles broke out.

“Today, Georgia seems hopelessly polarized over everything — its day-to-day politics, values and what the government is or isn’t doing. And according to government critics, the country risks standing alone in the neighborhood, as Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan — all members of Moscow’s Collective Security Treaty Organization — are decidedly cooling on Moscow, while Georgia appears to be getting friendlier.”