Georgian PM on Kaja Kallas’ remarks: attempts to divide Georgians and their Government echo Russia’s policy toward occupied territories

European officials are adopting the same approach toward Georgia that Russia once used regarding the country’s occupied territories by attempting to separate the Georgian people from their elected Government, said on Tuesday Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, arguing that EU High Representative Kaja Kallas is effectively refusing to recognise Georgia’s sovereignty over the entirety of its territory.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze noted that the European bureaucracy speaks of the Georgian people and the Georgian Government as though they are separate, despite the fact that the Georgian people have twice expressed strong confidence in the current Government - first in 2024 and again one year later, in 2025.

“They have descended into complete absurdity in two respects. First, they discuss Black Sea issues without Georgia, even though Georgia provides seven countries with access to the Black Sea. You can judge for yourselves how absurd this has become”, he said.

“Second, they speak of the Georgian people separately from the Georgian Government, even though the Georgian people have reaffirmed their strong support for the Government for the second consecutive time - in 2024 and then again in 2025”, the PM continued.

Kobakhidze further added that on both occasions, the Government received the support of more than 1.1 million voters, emphasising that this represents very strong backing from the Georgian people.

“When you artificially attempt to separate the Georgian people from the Government, you are using the same approach that we previously witnessed regarding our occupied territories, when the Russian Federation refused to recognise Georgia’s sovereignty over 20% of its territory. Now we see that Ms. Kaja Kallas no longer recognises Georgia’s sovereignty over 100% of its territory. This is simply laughable and a deeply tragic development for the European bureaucracy”, he concluded.