Georgian PM warns against attempts to undermine state amid external pressures

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday delivered a strong address to Parliament, asserting that his Government would not tolerate any attempts, both internal and external, to weaken or exert undue influence over the Georgian state.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze noted that in the face of ongoing external pressures, some individuals believed the state was vulnerable and sought to undermine it, citing the events of November-December last year as a manifestation of these efforts.

“I would like to touch on one important issue. On the backdrop of constant external turmoil, some people considered that the state was weakened and decided to commit violence against it. The events of November-December were one of the manifestations of this. For some reason, many subjects were very sympathetic to our state. We saw attempts to weaken state institutions from the outside, [...] with external hidden funding they tried to tarnish the reputation of our church, finance LGBT propaganda, political rallies, etc. All this was happening in secret from the citizens of our country. For some reason, they decided that they would get away with all this and that all this would be possible”, the Prime Minister said.

He further recalled instances of what he described as “gross interference in the independence of the judiciary”. He specifically highlighted a case where a representative of a foreign embassy allegedly summoned a Georgian judge and demanded an account regarding a specific case, directly violating the Georgian Constitution, the Vienna Convention, and “trampling upon all principles of law and diplomatic relations”.

“After that, you also remember that the European Court of Human Rights also issued a decision on this case and it recognised the decision of the Georgian judge as fair, although no one apologized. Someone thought that they could treat the Georgian state like this. They thought that the state was weakened and they treated our statehood and specifically the independence of the judiciary so badly”, Kobakhidze continued.

The Prime Minister criticized past foreign involvement in Georgia's legislative process, saying diplomats - who should have no role in domestic lawmaking - were once seated around tables drafting laws that were then imposed on the country, sometimes bypassing Georgian authorities.

Kobakhidze further alleged that external actors tried to influence key government appointments, including the position of Minister of Internal Affairs, and suggested that violence against police officers and the rejection of parliamentary election results were tolerated by those who saw the state as vulnerable.

He concluded by declaring that a new reality now exists in Georgia - one in which the state would not allow itself to be destabilised or disrespected.