Georgian PM: European bureaucracy will not succeed in bringing collective United National Movement back to power

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said that the European bureaucracy, which he claims is managed by informal influences, will not be able to achieve the return of the collective United National Movement opposition to power in Georgia.

In his interview with Imedi TV, the Prime Minister commented on the possibility of the EU revoking Georgia’s visa-free travel status, labeling it the final bullet in a series of attempts to pressure the country’s Government.

Kobakhidze asserted that the EU’s non-formal supervisors have used every instrument - except visa liberalisation - to blackmail the people of Georgia.

“They have used every instrument to blackmail the people, except for one, which is visa liberalisation. They have fired many bullets for this, including not granting us candidate status, then not opening negotiations, and then announcing that Georgia's European integration process was suspended from June 27, 2024”, he continued.

Kobakhidze suggested that using the visa liberalisation mechanism would only make sense if the EU were guaranteed to succeed in bringing the UNM back to power.

“Firing this last bullet can only make sense in one case: if you know it will hit the target and you manage to bring the United National Movement back to the country. If you fire this too and still cannot return the collective United National Movement to power, then what is the point? Such a step would be unpragmatic”, the PM noted.

The Prime Minister was also asked if the European Commission might wait for a “culmination” of political processes in Georgia.

“They will try, but there will be no culmination. We will have peaceful years. There are no elections for two years; every political force must prepare for the 2028 elections, including the European Commission, which was involved in the electoral processes through the Ambassador, directly calling on the Georgian population to support the collective United National Movement”, he concluded.