Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has accused international politicians of carrying out a coordinated campaign to label Georgia’s government as pro-Russian, claiming the tactic comes from resistance to the country’s independent decision-making.
In a lengthy statement shared on social media, Kobakhidze argued that the Georgian government is targeted only because it refuses to follow ‘external orders,’ has removed foreign influence from its institutions and upholds its sovereignty without embracing ‘LGBT propaganda’ or involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war.
He claims that labeling political actors as pro-Russian is a widely used strategy of what he calls the ‘deep state’, a term he uses to describe unelected power in the West. “This method is deployed globally to discredit opposition to liberal orthodoxy,” Kobakhidze said, using examples from France, Romania, Moldova and Hungary. He pointed to figures like Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who he says have faced similar irrelevant accusations.
Kobakhidze also drew attention to alleged parallels in the United States, referencing former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s claims that accusations of Russian interference in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign were manufactured by the Obama administration and propagated by the U.S. ‘deep state.’ As he says, this tactic is now being applied internationally to suppress sovereign governments under the guise of democratic concern.
Kobakhidze said that a central target of this alleged campaign is Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Despite years of accusations linking Ivanishvili to Russia, the Prime Minister claimed no specific evidence has ever been given to the public. He compared the strategy to ‘Goebbels-style’ propaganda, labeling an opponent as an enemy first, then fabricating the narrative around them.
Kobakhidze ended his statement by thanking Tulsi Gabbard for her stance and emphasized the need for citizens to be informed about what he described as manipulative tactics used to demolish independent political actors. “An informed public is the greatest guarantee of a strong state,” he concluded.
