Georgia prioritises peace and stability over visa liberalisation, says Georgian PM

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday said that if faced with a choice between peace and stability or visa liberalisation with the European Union, Georgia would prioritise the former.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze emphasised that this stance was reflecting the will of the Georgian people.

“I believe that the European bureaucracy will not take a counterproductive step. That would be absolutely irrational”, Kobakhidze said.

He argued that it was “not right to blackmail the Georgian people” for not returning a “bloody political force - the collective United National Movement opposition - to power”.

Kobakhidze linked the opposition to Georgia's recently adopted Transparency Law directly to attempts to undermine the country's peace and stability.

“When they forbid us to adopt the transparency law, it means they want to take away our peace and stability. When they tell us that you should not adopt a law that restricts foreign forces from organising a revolution in the country, it means they are threatening you with the loss of stability and then peace”, the Prime Minister said.

“If the question comes down to peace and stability or visa liberalisation, we will, of course, prioritise peace and stability. This is the choice of the Georgian people”, he continued.

He highlighted that Georgia had experienced “four attempted revolutions” in the past four years.

“Peace, stability, including family values - these are existential issues. Going to Europe with or without a visa is not an existential issue, but what they are offering us, to undermine our stability and peace, that is an existential issue. Therefore, when an existential issue confronts a non-existential issue, naturally, you must prioritise the existential issue”, he concluded.