Abstract
This article explains how incumbents in hybrid regimes use geopolitics to strengthen regime durability. It develops two autocratisation strategies: declarative Europeanisation, a deliberate tool that combines pro-EU signalling with selective reform, and affective geopolitics, which deploys geopolitical narratives to mobilise supporters, discredit opponents and justify repression. Using Georgia under the Georgian Dream government, the article shows how these strategies operate to strengthen legitimacy and enable repression. The findings contribute to debates about hybrid regimes by adding a geopolitical component. It bridges Europeanisation and autocratisation literatures and demonstrates how ruling elites exploit geopolitical conditions to mask and advance autocratisation.