Kobakhidze Tries to Minimize EU, U.S. Fallout, Threatens Protesters
Irakli Kobakhidze held a briefing to reiterate his party’s key talking points in response to massive protests following the Georgian Dream’s decision to halt the EU accession process.
Kobakhidze claimed Georgia did not halt the accession and said if the EU “put the opening of [accession] talks on the table, I will sign it today.” He responded to EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski’s briefing by declaring “action instead of blackmail!” and accusing the Ambassador of being “involved in the disinformation campaign led by the radical opposition and NGOs and media they own.”
- On GD talking points, read also: As Protest Mounts, GD Leadership Grapples to Manage Fallout.
Kobakhidze was proclaimed prime minister by the rump GD parliament, which is considered by many as illegitimate after the fraudulent October 26 elections. His announcement to halt accession triggered public outrage. The government responded with excessive police force to the protests across Georgia.
Still, Kobakhidze insists, “Not only are we not halting the European integration process, but we’re stepping up our efforts to ensure Georgia’s membership in the EU by 2030.”
U.S.-Georgian Relations
Asked about relations with the United States, which on November 30 declared the suspension of the strategic partnership with Georgia, Kobakhidze said it was a “temporary event” explained by internal U.S. politics.
“The still incumbent administration is trying to leave as hard a legacy as possible to the successor Trump administration; that’s what they are doing with Ukraine, and now they are doing it with Georgia as well,” Kobakhidze said, adding that this cannot have a “principal importance” and they will wait for a new administration. “We will talk about everything with the new administration.”
Asked if the Georgian government had communicated with the incoming administration, Kobakhidze said, “There has been indirect communication from our side, and we are waiting for direct communication.”
According to Kobakhidze, Tbilisi will wait for Trump’s inauguration on January 20 and hopes that “this fact will qualitatively change the relations between Georgia and the United States of America, as well as between Georgia and the EU,” adding that the problems with the incumbent US administration “were directly reflected in the relations between Georgia and the EU.”
Asked about the positions of a senior Republican Congressman, Joe Wilson, who has been highly critical of GD and called for sanctioning Ivanishvili, Kobakhidze said that the Trump administration is what matters and everything else is secondary. “It will be as Trump says.”
Ongoing Protests
Kobakhidze also commented on the protests in Tbilisi in recent days, claiming that the “most serious systemic violence” was perpetrated by “violent groups and their foreign instructors.” He thanked police officers and Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri for handling the protests and meeting “higher standards” than in Europe and America.
Using the amalgamation of Ukraine’s 2013 maidan with a pejorative term for the United National Movement, he said, “The day before yesterday, everyone saw that there would be no NatsMaidan in Georgia, while yesterday was the beginning of the end of liberal fascism in Georgia. ” He also warned that any offense would be met with the “full severity of the law.”
“Neither will the politicians, who themselves hide in their offices and leave the members of their violent groups to face harsh punishment, escape responsibility,” Kobakhidze said.
Also Read:
- Live Blog: Aborted EU Accession
- 30/11/2024 – U.S. Suspends Strategic Partnership with Georgia
- 30/11/2024 – Defiant, President Zurabishvili Announces Coordinating Political Council
- 30/11/2024 – As Protest Mounts, GD Leadership Grapples to Manage Fallout
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