Georgian Dream’s PM Kobakhidze: 'If we have to choose, we’ll choose stability over visa-free travel'
Kobakhidze accuses the EU of blackmail
“If it comes down to peace and stability or visa-free travel [with the EU], we will certainly prioritize peace and stability. That is the choice of the Georgian people,” said Georgian Dream’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, commenting on the possible suspension of Georgia’s visa-free regime with the European Union.
According to Kobakhidze, whether a citizen travels to Europe with or without a visa is not an existential issue, while “what they are proposing, which threatens our peace and stability, are existential matters.”
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs sent a letter to the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 16, in which the EU demands updated information by August 31 on the progress made in implementing the Commission’s recommendations or measures taken to address them.
The letter mentions a “serious regression of democracy in Georgia,” and notes that the European Commission is considering the possibility of suspending the visa-free regime. It also states that since January 2025, the European Union has already suspended the visa-free regime for holders of diplomatic and service passports, a move supported by 12 EU member states.
What did Irakli Kobakhidze say?
The European Commission’s letter, as well as numerous previous statements by EU representatives, sharply criticizes the arrests of opposition leaders and participants in pro-European protests in Georgia.
The European Commission also demanded the repeal of several laws adopted in 2025 that “are repressive toward civil society and independent media.”
Commenting on this criticism, Irakli Kobakhidze said: “Regarding those imprisoned, we have a clear response: every person currently under arrest or in detention in Georgia has committed a specific crime.
If the European Commission has legal concerns about any of these cases, let them present evidence.
But they have no such evidence; these are empty political ultimatums, which is regrettable.
Regarding the new laws: these include the law on family values and the protection of minors’ interests, as well as the law on transparency of funding for organizations and media – all of which are very important for our country.
The “transparency” law is a law about the transparency of revolutions. If someone wants to finance revolutionary processes in Georgia, they must do so openly.
We are ready to have a healthy discussion with all parties on all issues. But it’s important not to present the European Union to Georgian society as if it were the Soviet Union.
What happened in the Soviet Union? Directives came from Moscow, and if you didn’t follow them, you were punished. So how is Brussels any different from Moscow? Brussels should not resemble Soviet Moscow.
All the steps we have taken fully align with fundamental human rights. We are responsible for maintaining peace, stability, and development in Georgia. It is wrong to blackmail the Georgian people for not bringing back to power a bloody political force [likely referring to former president Mikheil Saakashvili and his party, the United National Movement – JAMnews].
If someone frames the choice as either peace and stability or visa liberalization, it means they want to take away our peace and stability.
When they say we should not adopt a law that restricts a foreign power from organizing a revolution in our country, it means they are threatening us with the loss of stability and peace.
If the question is peace and stability or visa liberalization, of course we will choose peace and stability. That is the choice of the Georgian people. We choose peace and stability, and we will not give in.
Whether you go to Europe with or without a visa – that is not an existential question. But what they are offering that would disrupt our peace and stability – that is an existential issue. When an existential question meets a non-existential one, you must choose the existential one.
Everyone now understands that Bidzina Ivanishvili is not afraid of sanctions. Informal sanctions were imposed against him, and two billion dollars were seized from him in a completely predatory and disgraceful manner.
Is such behavior acceptable for Europe? When two billion are seized through a commercial bank with no justification, from a specific individual, especially one who held and still holds a high political office, that is certainly inappropriate for Europe.
30 or 40 years ago, such things in Europe would have been unimaginable. Unfortunately, Europe has reached this point, and it’s clearly the result of the deep state’s influence.
This situation is tragic. Bidzina Ivanishvili is not afraid of either formal or informal sanctions. The Europe speaks the language of blackmail. But it will have no effect.”
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