As protesters clashed with riot police cordons outside Georgia's parliament last week, a petite woman walked through the crowd.
In a moment of national crisis, President Salome Zurabishvili decided that she must be with the citizens on the streets.
Placing her hand on the shield of one of the policemen in black, wearing a helmet, she appealed to their conscience.
"Your duty is to protect the sovereignty of this country and its citizens. It is not your duty to disperse the people. Do you serve Russia or Georgia?" she asked calmly.
"Aren't you accountable to your president? Aren't you thinking about your future, your country, your children and even your ancestors?"
This meeting was triggered by the announcement of the ruling Georgian Dream party a few hours earlier, that they are suspending efforts to join the European Union and giving up any financial support from the EU until 2028. They stated that this move was caused by a "cascade of insults" from the EU.
Reuters writes that for Salome Zurabishvili, this was a betrayal of Georgia's European destiny and a sign that the country, which was once part of the Soviet Union, is again falling under Russian influence as part of a "hybrid war" led by Moscow - which the Georgian government and the Kremlin deny.
The conflict, which is being watched closely by Russia, the US and the EU, marks a turning point in Georgia's modern history, as thousands of protesters clash with police in the capital every night.
Also, according to Reuters, this is the culmination of a long struggle between Zurabishvili and the ruling party, which supported her for president in 2018, but tried to remove her in just five years.
When Georgian Dream was declared the winner of parliamentary elections seven weeks ago, with two US polling organizations saying the results were statistically impossible, Zourabishvili denounced the outcome as a "total fraud" and called for protests.
In an interview with Reuters this week, in English, she presented herself as the protector of the people and the guardian of the constitution, which contains Georgia's aspiration to join the EU.
Her mission, she said, is to "represent the voice of those who are on the streets" and those who resigned from public positions in protest against the government's decision.
"They need someone to rally around, and I'm that figure," she said, promising to play the role "until we get new elections and until we get a legitimate government."
The government and the election commission deny that the October elections were rigged. Prime Minister Irakli Kobahidze said that Zurabishvili supported the opposition in the elections, but lost, and that she is having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that she will leave office when her six-year term expires on December 29. "Her emotional state is unstable," he said on Tuesday.
Zurabishvili, who is 72, says she will not resign because the parliament formed after the election does not have the legitimacy to choose her successor. Her only request is that new elections be held.
Reuters writes that Georgia's struggle to free itself from Russian domination and become part of Europe is a theme that has occupied Zurabishvili all his life.
She was born in Paris in 1952 in a family that fled when Georgia became part of the Soviet Union in 1921, after only three years of independence. As she grew up during the Cold War, as she herself said, that country seemed "mysterious and unattainable". Her first visit to Georgia was only in 1986.
Zurabishvili graduated from prestigious schools and built a successful career as a French diplomat, becoming ambassador to Georgia in 2003.
A year later, under an unusual agreement approved by the presidents of both countries, she was appointed as Georgia's foreign minister, a position she held for 19 months. She later entered Georgian politics, becoming a member of parliament in 2016.
For the Georgian people, it is important that they see that I am on their side and that I continue to represent the legitimate government and independent Georgia
She was elected president, a largely ceremonial role, with the support of Georgian Dream, and successfully lobbied the EU to grant Georgia candidate status last year, saying the country of 3,7 million people could contribute to ensuring security and stability in the Black Sea region.
However, relations with the party gradually deteriorated. In October 2023, they tried unsuccessfully to remove her in the parliament on the grounds that she exceeded her powers by traveling abroad without authorization, primarily to Brussels.
In May 2024, she vetoed a law that required NGOs receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents." The government argued the law was necessary to protect Georgia from outside interference, while critics said it resembled a law the Kremlin uses to crack down on dissidents in Russia.
When parliament overrode her veto, Zurabishvili accused ruling party lawmakers of choosing "Russian slavery."
Now the clock is ticking until a showdown with the government over its refusal to back down.
When asked if she would resist the attempt to evict her from the presidential palace, Zurabishvili told Reuters: "No, I'm not tied to the building or anything like that. It's a matter of principle, symbolism."
For the Georgian people, she said, it is important "to see that I am on their side and that I continue to represent the legitimate government and independent Georgia."
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