– “Georgian Dream”- so is it a Russian dream? – asked the journalist.
– So, it is a Russian dream, – said Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili in her latest live interview with local channel TV Pirveli.
President Zurabishvili covered many issues: the reintroduced Russian-style draft law on foreign agents, the upcoming parliamentary elections, the country’s integration into the European Union, necessary reforms, her “metamorphosis,” the Government, the opposition, and even football.
(Un)expected decision
But the breakthrough that many expected, though many doubted, was her decision to pardon Lazare Grigoriadis, a 22-year-old young man who had been sentenced to nine years in prison earlier that same day, April 12 at 10 a.m.
“I made this decision [to pardon Lazare Grigoriadisi] on my own at 10:00 a.m. today…because my conscience led me to the conclusion that this young man should not face a nine-year sentence…” the President said, stressing that her decision was self-determined and not subject to any appeal or threat from anyone.
Grigoriadis was arrested in connection with the March 7-9, 2023 protests against the so-called Russian Law on Foreign Agents [which the ruling party has just re-tabled] and was accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at the police and setting fire to a police car. However, the defendant claimed that there was no clear evidence to prove Grigoriadis’ guilt. It turned out that Zurabishvili thought so too.
However, pardoning a man accused of harming the police could not be an easy decision, and Zurabishvili appealed to the police themselves, telling them that her decision would not serve to encourage hatred and crime against them. “The police are not only respected and very important, but in the period that we are now entering, the role of the police will be very important, they will be at the watchtower of stability,” – Zurabishvili told society. “I want to express my deep respect and my belief that they will be where the state needs them,” she said.
Russian Law – “Sabotage of Georgia’s European Path”
The hour-long interview was not only devoted to the pardon of Grigoriadis, as Zurabishvili spewed harsh criticism against the ruling party, first and foremost for its recent decision to reintroduce the Russian-style so-called Foreign Agents Law. Commenting on the meeting between Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, President Zurabishvili said it could not be a “sweet and friendly discussion”.
Referring to Scholz, Zurabishvili said that Georgia will be told many times in the future that the law re-tabled by the ruling party is modeled on the Russian analog and has nothing in common with any of the European and generally Western legislation.
“This is a sabotage of our European path,” the President said, adding that not only this law but also other decisions of the ruling party, such as the abolition of gender quotas in Parliament, recent changes in the Electoral Code, opposition to the establishment of a vetting system for judges, all serve to undermine Georgia’s European candidacy.
GD Serving Russia’s Interests in the Pre-election (?)
However, in the context of the pre-election campaign, the President said that she finds the ruling party’s decisions rather illogical. According to Zurabishvili, all the above-mentioned decisions of the GD go against what it should be doing for its [fair] success in the elections.
President Zurabishvili highlighted two recent moments of national joy: Georgia’s EU candidate status and the qualification of the Georgian national football team for EURO 2024. She noted that the ruling power could have used these occasions to its advantage. However, as in the case of football, a week after the historic match, Georgian Dream reintroduced the Foreign Agents Law, dividing society and halting further celebrations and unity.
Rhetorically, the President asked who would want to divide Georgian society, provoke a conflict between Georgia and Ukraine, and obstruct Georgia’s accelerated path to EU membership. She concluded that the only power with such intentions is Russia, and perhaps that’s why she considers “Georgian Dream” to be Russian.
Elections – “Referendum on Europe”
“The elections will be a decisive moment for our partners,” the President stressed, adding that she believes they will not block anything for Georgia as a country “until the elections”.
Zurabishvili said that the upcoming elections should not be a mere parliamentary election, but a “referendum on Europe”.
She briefly stated that she does not believe in the artificial unification of any political forces around any ideas other than the European perspective of the country. She said: “Today, unity is only possible around the idea of Eurointegration.” She stressed: “There is no other way. We need to sit down and agree on what we agree.”
The President said that the political parties should demonstrate to the people what she called the “victory formula”, i.e. how they would implement the Action Plan and the necessary conditions and reforms for the opening of accession negotiations with the European Union. For her, the coalition government that she believes will be formed after the October elections should be “technical” and focus only on implementing reforms, and the political parties should commit to holding another election one year later.
Emigrant Votes for Europe
The President reiterated the importance of “full mobilization” of emigrants for the upcoming elections. She called on the political parties to step up the efforts on this matter so that “these people are given a real opportunity to participate in the elections.”
She once again slammed the Government, accusing it of denying the emigrants, who she estimated at one million, the chance to easily exercise their right to vote.
According to her, the Georgian diaspora will not essentially vote for a particular party in this election, but for the European future of the country. She also stressed that they know that the only chance for htem to come back is if Georgia becomes part of the EU. “October 26 is a choice: yes to Europe, no to Russia,” the President said.
Zurabishvili Slamming the GD – Exclusive Stories
In the interview, her criticism of the ruling party was unprecedented. Ironically, at the beginning of the interview, the journalist told the president that in her opinion, the country had two presidents in one term, two shades of Salome Zurabishvili: one, the supporter of the ruling party, and the other, its fierce critic.
Zurabishvili stressed she is still the same president, adding that it was the ruling power that revealed itself, especially after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022. She attributed this to pressure from Russia, which she said had increased after the war.
In addition, the President told several exclusive stories in the interview and made revealing statements against the GD, including against some of its members individually.
Zurabishvili mentioned the government’s rejection of her visit to Lithuania for a meeting of the so-called Three Seas Initiative, to which Georgia had been invited for the first time. She stressed that she should have sought permission for the foreign visit as it was part of a new format, but the government rejected her request.
President Zurabishvili’s unauthorized visits to European countries became the basis for the parliamentary majority’s attempt to impeach her in October last year.
In the interview, she also mentioned the Ministry of Culture, saying, “Bolshevism is flourishing [there].” Zurabishvili recalled the recent story of March 31 [on that day in 1991, Georgia held a referendum on restoring the country’s independence.] She said that on March 31 of this year, she invited Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, the son of Georgia’s first President, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and the current Director of the National Library, to a special event at the Orbeliani Presidential Palace. She said that Gamsakhurdia did not come to the event and did not even bother to inform the administration about it, and claimed that he may have been under pressure from the authorities.
She also told another story about how she wanted to reward the young people who had won the trampoline competition, but was refused by the sports federation.
Regarding sports, President Zurabishvili slammed Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze of calling a player of the Georgian national football team and his family a “UNM [supporter]” simply because posted a picture of his niece with the EU flag at taken at the public pro-European march against the Russian law on April 9. “How dare you give a political qualification to one of the members of the [national football] team… this is also against Europe,” Zurabishvili said.
Future Plans – “Next to [and not Above] the People”
At the end of the interview, President Zurabishvili was asked about her future plans after the elections, including scenarios where the ruling party wins and the possibility of forming a coalition government fails. She said she does not consider such a possibility and expressed her firm belief that Georgia will accelerate its progress towards Europe after the elections. As for her future role in Georgian politics, she did not specify where she might appear next.
Zurabishvili said: “I will always be with my people… not above them,” smiling, in a clear reference to her somewhat controversial old interview with the same journalist in which she had said that “the President should be with the people, but also above them.”
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
