Opinion: 'Georgian Dream uses violations in European countries to justify itself'
Political analyst Paata Zakareishvili commented on the open letter sent by Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to European Union leaders. According to Zakareishvili, the ruling Georgian Dream party uses existing violations in European countries to justify its own actions, and the letter is a clear example of this.
As the political analyst explained, the European Union does not have to justify itself to Georgia, despite Kobakhidze’s demands in his open letter. He argued that the EU did not ask Georgia to join the bloc — rather, Georgia sought membership itself.
Several days earlier, during a briefing at the government administration, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze addressed an open letter to European Union leaders. In his message, Kobakhidze placed particular emphasis on events in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. He said police use of force during the dispersal of a peaceful demonstration — including the use of batons and dogs — raised serious questions about the democratic standards the European Union claims to uphold.
Paata Zakareishvili said: “This is a very strange letter, although nothing from Georgian Dream has seemed strange for a long time, because their main goal is to prevent Georgia from moving towards the European Union.
They believe they made a mistake when they amended the constitution and committed themselves to leading Georgia into the EU and NATO. They regret it because it is obvious they took on obligations they cannot fulfil. Otherwise, they would not be able to stay in power.
That is why all of their policy since 2020 — and especially after 2022 — has clearly aimed to push the European Union into abandoning Georgia in one way or another.
There is a deliberate effort to burn bridges with the EU, while making the EU appear responsible for it. The European Union faces constant discrediting.
Irakli Kobakhidze’s letter reflects a Soviet legacy, where the real audience is not the European Union but domestic voters first and foremost — particularly undecided voters — because, as a rule, Georgian Dream is always thinking about elections.”
Paata Zakareishvili continued:
“The letter is intended for domestic audiences and tells voters that we are equal to Europe, that Tbilisi is Brussels. Kobakhidze says the European Union should answer to us and explain how it assesses events taking place in Copenhagen. Excuse me, but Georgia stands outside — on the other side entirely. The European Union is not even obliged to talk to Georgia. It was Georgia that applied to join the EU.
The EU is not seeking anything in Georgia; it is Georgia that seeks something in the European Union. The EU gave us 12 recommendations to fulfil, and we did not complete them. Despite that, the EU granted us candidate status and added another nine conditions. We are deliberately failing to meet those as well. Moreover, in 2024 we suspended EU integration talks and postponed them until 2028. We did that because our constitution commits us to the European path, and openly rejecting it would amount to a direct violation of the constitution.
Now they seem to hope that the EU will at least revoke visa liberalisation, so they can later say how terrible the European Union is. Whenever something happens in Copenhagen, Vienna or Warsaw, they constantly use it to justify themselves to their voters.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations take place regularly across Europe. Opinion in Europe is divided, with clearly defined groups supporting Palestinians and others supporting Israel. Against that background, I find the position of Georgia’s authorities surprising — they have never expressed a pro-Palestinian stance.
Moreover, Georgia hosted Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of Israel’s most radical political figures. He is among the country’s most hardline politicians, and even in Israel his rhetoric towards Palestinians and Arabs is considered unacceptable.
Georgia’s position is clearly pro-Israel. When you support Israel while simultaneously claiming concern for Palestinian supporters, that is pure hypocrisy.”
“If I were a citizen of Denmark, I would certainly demand answers from the government about whether the operation complied with the law and whether an investigation would follow. We will see whether Georgian Dream ignores the fact that, unlike in Georgia, Denmark will almost certainly investigate the matter. That is how Europe works — authorities face consequences for excessive use of force.
Europe matters not only because it is Europe, but because it acknowledges its own mistakes. The European Union will deal with this issue too.
The tragedy is that Irakli Kobakhidze allows himself to speak about Denmark while remaining silent on Iran and China. Georgian Dream has nothing to do with human rights. This is a purely anti-European campaign aimed at preparing society and justifying why we supposedly cannot become a member of the European Union.”
On Georgian Dream’s policies
