Ruling party Sec Gen reaffirms Georgia's independence in foreign relations

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said Georgia was an independent nation and had the sovereign right to determine its own foreign relations.

Kaladze’s remarks came in response to a statement issued by members of the Helsinki Commission, which expressed concerns over the Georgian Government's decision to grant control of the Anaklia deep-sea port to a Chinese conglomerate.

“Georgia is an independent country, a sovereign state, and it will decide for itself with whom to have relationships, what kind of relationships to maintain, and what trade partnerships to establish. This is not a matter for the Helsinki Commission”, Kaladze said.

Regarding the state of relations with the United States, the ruling party official emphasised that the Georgian Government's priority was the Georgian people.

“The most important thing for us is the Georgian people, our homeland and the interests of our country. Everything else, including relations with other countries, comes after that. What is unclear about this? We are simply observing the processes and are in a wait-and-see mode. To be honest, due to the political stance and revelations made by the Georgian Dream, this small country has exposed to the world what the deep state really is. Three years ago, when we spoke about this, people mocked us and did not believe it. Now, after Trump became President, he explicitly stated that his main goal is to defeat the deep state. We support him in this effort, though we understand it will not be an easy task”, he concluded.