Georgian PM says domestic political forces now critical of Russia previously showed no concern over Russian aggression

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday said that political parties, affiliated non-governmental organisations and their supporters, whom he described as a foreign-controlled “agent network” united into a single radical force, did not object to Russia’s aggression between 2008 and 2012, arguing that their current anti-Russian rhetoric emerged only after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a social media message, Kobakhidze claimed these groups had repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to advancing external interests in Georgia.

“Following Russia’s occupation of Georgian territories in 2008 and its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, the United National Movement not only refrained from pursuing a tougher policy toward Russia, but shortly after the war, the regime’s leader personally welcomed Russian citizens at the border and invited them to travel to and do business in Georgia”, he said.

“During the same period, we witnessed the regime’s active efforts to deepen cultural and humanitarian ties with Russia, encourage Russian investment in various sectors of Georgia’s economy, including strategic sectors, and, several years later, unilaterally abolish visa requirements for Russian citizens”, Kobakhidze continued.

The Prime Minister also claimed that neither representatives of the former government nor their supporters publicly protested those policies at the time.

“Everyone remembers how today’s leading ‘Russophobes’ - Elene Khoshtaria, Zurab Japaridze, Misha Mshvildadze and others - welcomed Russian tourists, Russian money, which at the time ‘had no smell’, and the deepening of trade, economic and cultural relations with Russia. This all happened after Russia had already recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states and diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia had been severed”, he said.

“The fact is that these political forces, the NGOs associated with them, and their active supporters, who have formed a unified radical force as a foreign-controlled agent network, were not concerned by anti-Russian aggression between 2008 and 2012”, he continued.

He argued that what he described as the “Georgian agent network” developed a radical anti-Russian position only after Russia launched its second invasion of Ukraine.

“Georgia’s agent network developed a radical anti-Russian stance only after Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine. It is clear that the so-called Global War Party needed the current conflict to expand in order to involve Europe in the war and fuel Russophobia within its network worldwide, including in Georgia”, he noted.

Kobakhidze also claimed that the scale of the ongoing war in Ukraine serves the interests of what he referred to as the “Global War Party”, alleging that it seeks to involve Europe more deeply in the conflict and to intensify Russophobia worldwide, including in Georgia.