Kobakhidze to EU: Talk to Us Instead of Sending ‘Soviet Telegrams’ on Visa-Free Travel
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze reiterated his calls on EU institutions and what he calls the “European bureaucracy” to “talk” with Georgian authorities amid warnings that the EU may suspend Georgia’s visa-free travel if the GD government fails to address eight recommendations outlined in a letter from the Commission, to be fulfilled by the end of August.
Complaining of “zero communication” from Brussels, Kobakhidze said that instead of dialogue, Brussels “sends telegrams” – a practice he described as a “Soviet approach,” adding, “This is how telegrams were once sent from Soviet Moscow to Georgia,” reprising his familiar comparison of the EU to the USSR.
“I wish the European bureaucracy would overcome this Soviet approach. We are open to dialogue because we believe we are absolutely right,” Kobakhidze told journalists on July 31, following Kakha Kaladze’s nomination as Georgian Dream’s pick for a third term as Tbilisi mayor.
Among other issues, the EU Commission’s recommendations to Georgia include repealing laws targeting civil society – the so-called foreign agents law – as well as legislation restricting LGBT rights, officially titled the Law on Family Values and the Protection of Minors.
Pressed by a journalist about the broader recommendation for authorities to ensure and uphold the fundamental rights of Georgians, Kobakhidze first dismissed any connection between that demand and the controversial legislation before lashing out at the “European bureaucracy” over human rights issues, accusing Western ambassadors – including those from the EU and the U.S. – of having “incited violence” during street protests in Tbilisi.
“I want to remind the European bureaucracy of one thing: their ambassador was inciting the violence that we saw in the Tbilisi streets. Former American ambassador was inciting the violence that we witnessed in Tbilisi streets at a certain time. When this is the context, their talk about a law enforcer assaulting protesters is absolutely misplaced. They don’t have the moral right,” Kobakhidze said.
“Someone else might tell us that, our citizens might tell us all this, but European bureaucracy has no right to talk about violence, from any side, when the violence both in spring 2023 and in spring 2024 was incited by them,” he added.
Kobakhidze made the remarks following the nomination of Kakha Kaladze as Georgian Dream’s candidate for a third term as Tbilisi mayor in the upcoming municipal elections, slated for October 4.
The event, held outdoors in Mtatsminda hills in Tbilisi, was marked by the rare public appearance of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, though he did not address the crowd.
Kaladze launched the pre-election campaign under the slogan “Peace to Georgia, More Good to Tbilisi,” pledging to lead by the principles of “Tbilisi as responsibility” and “Tbilisi as a city of opportunities.”
Also Read:
- 24/07/2025 – Anna Dolidze Says Her For People Party Won’t Run in Local Elections
- 22/07/2025 – Kobakhidze Downplays Concerns Over EU Visa-Free Suspension as Mere Fear of “Visa Lines”
- 18/07/2025 – Kobakhidze Says ‘Global War Party’ Uses EU Visa Threat to Open Second Front in Georgia
- 17/07/2025 – Kobakhidze Says Visa-Free Travel “Not Existential” as Brussels Warns of Suspension
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