VANO SHLAMOV/AFP/Getty Opinion The forgotten ally Georgia puts its soldiers’ lives on the line for NATO, but gets nothing in return.

Vasil Kuljanishvili, 22, was doing his job when he was killed during a foot patrol in Afghanistan last week. Far from home, he put himself on the line for a broader, international effort.

Private Kuljanishvili is the 31st Georgian soldier to be killed in action during our joint military deployment with NATO. Yet more than a decade after becoming the second-largest per capita contributor of troops to NATO in Afghanistan after the U.S., Georgia is neither a NATO member, nor has it been offered a clear plan on joining the alliance. We might be forgiven for thinking of ourselves as a forgotten ally.

As a tenuous ceasefire between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists appears — for now — to be holding, our friends and neighbors in Ukraine are also absorbing the hard lessons of betting on the West. Their Euromaidan movement first ousted a corrupt leader, and then provoked the ire of our common, heavily militarized, northern neighbor. It’s a lesson we know from our own bitter experience. That’s why both Georgians and Ukrainians understand one another at a profound level: Ukrainians also have reason to consider themselves forgotten.

But despite the challenges of our difficult neighborhood, Georgia continues to show that its promise is strong. It’s the freest country in the region and the least corrupt. Twice in the last dozen years, power has shifted between different governments in peaceful democratic elections. And each year, the country draws millions of tourists from around the globe who enjoy our hospitality, nature and culture.

In 2008, we rebounded from an invasion, and while nearly a third of our territory remains occupied, Georgians haven’t allowed this existential threat to alter who we are. We are proud. We are entrepreneurial. And, like Private Kuljanishili, we are brave. Our current government no longer buys full-page advertisements in the Economist boasting of Georgia’s achievements, but there’s no need; those who know us already know them. Yet we can, and must, do more.

Georgians haven’t allowed this existential threat to alter who we are. We are proud. We are entrepreneurial.

Our freedom — which is our calling card — is not guaranteed. More than once, governments that began with energy and fresh ideas receded into more authoritarian reflections of their original selves. That’s why the Georgian Dream coalition, of which my party was then a part, ousted the heavy-handed government of former President Mikheil Saakashvili. And it’s why Saakashvili and his cohorts managed to oust the well-intentioned but corrupt government of Eduard Shevardnadze.

Today, we’re working from within to strengthen and preserve our democracy. We’re holding the government to account for its promises to reform the judiciary, make our electoral system more representative, and protect the media from the kind of censorship that’s all too common in Eurasia. The same negative trend that undermined Saakashvili’s early achievements is beginning anew with the current government. TV talk shows are being shut down, criminal prosecutions are politicized and appear selective, and the ruling coalition hasn’t introduced the electoral reforms it promised when in opposition.

The biggest problem Georgia faces today is a gentler version of what confronted us four years ago. In 2012, the opposition faced a president who abused power to the extent that fear embedded itself in our society. Today there’s less fear, but once again, a single individual is calling all the shots. Once prime minister and financier of the Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, speaks often and from the hip — a sort of Georgian Donald Trump. But in Georgia, Ivanishvili is much bigger than Trump. Those who agree with his vision are promoted while those who disagree are fired. Being in the latter category, I speak from experience.

Last fall, I differed with Ivanishvili on a defense acquisition project and was given my walking papers. Four members of my team were arrested on what I believe are spurious charges. We will fight for their exoneration in the courts, and I am hopeful that reason, and the law, will prevail. Just as we will push back in each of the areas where progress has stalled after three years of our current government.

Once prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili speaks often and from the hip — a sort of Georgian Donald Trump.

Time and again, Georgians have proven to the world that we are capable of resolving our disputes ourselves. We have proven that we’re ready and able to contribute to regional peace and security. We also continue to protect investors and pursue reform at a level that emerging markets expert Mark Mobius deemed unprecedented. All of this deserves more recognition in the U.S. and Europe.

A visa agreement with the European Union has recently been delayed, little or no progress has been made on enhanced trade cooperation with the United States, and we’re yet to see a return on our interest in NATO. It’s almost as though our capabilities make us invisible, as the rest of the world burns and the great powers wring their hands over failing, or failed, states. Georgians move in the right direction because it’s in our nature. This should not be taken for granted.

Nor should the life of Vasil Kuljanishvili.

Irakli Alasania served as Georgia’s minister of defense, ambassador to the United Nations, and head of the Abkhaz government-in-exile. He is the chairman of the Free Democrats, a political party in opposition.