Georgian PM claims “Deep State” retaliated against Georgia for refusing war

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday said the ruling Georgian Dream party felt obliged to explain in detail the hidden political motives behind the hostile campaign waged against Georgia.

In his remarks on behalf of the ruling Georgian Dream party's Political Council, Kobakhidze noted that calls for Georgia to engage in military actions quickly moved beyond behind-the-scenes hints soon after the war in Ukraine began, when specific high-ranking Ukrainian officials directly demanded that “Georgia open a second front”.

“In recent weeks, the entirely unfounded attacks on Georgia by the European bureaucracy have escalated to such an extent that, as a political team accountable to the Georgian people and responsible for peace and stability in our country, we feel obliged to explain in detail the hidden political motives behind the hostile campaign waged against Georgia. The public well remembers that the utterly unjust attitude towards our country and the Government chosen by the Georgian people coincides with the start of the war in Ukraine. The previous United States administration, including Biden himself, Secretary Blinken, former Ambassador Degnan, and other high-ranking officials, constantly attacked Georgia. They absurdly and baselessly accused us of ties with Russia and violating the strategic partnership agreement written on paper”, the Prime Minister said.

He further added that “all this unjust attitude and attacks” were despite the fact that Georgia did everything politically to support Ukraine - joining hundreds of resolutions, co-sponsoring investigations into war crimes, sheltering Ukrainian refugees, assisting the war-torn country with humanitarian aid, and conscientiously adhering to standards for avoiding sanctions.

“Regarding the latter, Mr. O'Brien, the sanctions coordinator who arrived directly from America, concluded that Georgia had indeed complied and even thanked our country”, he continued. On this backdrop, we publicly initiated a discussion and posed a rhetorical question: What, then, did Georgia fail to do that kept us under constant blackmail?! Our political team and the Georgian public soon provided the answer: we did not get involved in the war; we did not open a second front against Russia in our country. For this reason, the then-administration, controlled by the Global War Party (the deep state), decided to punish Georgia”, Kobakhidze said.

“The fact that Georgia was being asked to engage in military actions quickly moved beyond behind-the-scenes hints soon after the war in Ukraine began when specific high-ranking Ukrainian officials directly demanded that Georgia open a second front. Danilov, Podolyak, Goncharenko, and others openly spoke about the necessity of a second front in our country”, he concluded.