Partners must respect Georgia's independence and sovereignty, and the authorities will defend their positions with dignity and continue to protect the country from any attempts of excessive interference in internal affairs, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.
The West accuses the current Georgian authorities of rolling back democracy, anti-Western rhetoric and spreading conspiracy theories. Criticism intensified after the parliamentary elections, the results of which all four opposition forces that made it into parliament, the NGOs supporting them and Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili refused to recognize, saying they were rigged.
“Our election slogan was: 'Only with peace, with dignity, with prosperity towards Europe.' Dignity was one of the key words here. If you do not conduct your policy with dignity, of course, you will not be able to properly protect your national interests,” Kobakhidze said.
According to the prime minister, it is important to demonstrate principles everywhere, and if someone tries to interfere in the internal affairs of the country, the authorities should defend their positions with dignity.
“Foreign politicians, bureaucrats often try to rudely interfere in our internal affairs and decide how our country should develop, including very often they ask us for something, which directly means bringing the most difficult problems to the country with their own hands,” the prime minister said.
As an example, the head of the Georgian government cited the demand for sanctions against Russia, which, according to Kobakhidze, would mean the country's economy would shrink by at least 10 percent within the first year.
“For the country, for people, for society, it would be a huge disaster. Such interventions are unacceptable. We will defend ourselves against any attempts of excessive interference in the future,” Kobakhidze said on the air of the program ‘Actual Topic’ on Channel One.
One thing is partnership, friendship, but another thing is that everyone should respect Georgia's independence and sovereignty, the Prime Minister noted.
“No fair relations are possible without respecting these principles. This attitude is fundamentally important, so the line of defense of national interests runs through the protection of sovereignty, and we will pursue this policy in the future,” he emphasized.
The Georgian authorities became the object of criticism from the Georgian opposition and representatives of official Kiev soon after the conflict started. At first, the reason was the refusal to send volunteers to Ukraine in an organized manner. The authorities said that this would have meant the country's inclusion in the armed conflict.
Later, Georgian authorities were accused of helping Russia to circumvent sanctions, but the EU, US and UK sanctions coordinators, following a visit to Georgia in June 2023, praised the work done by the Georgian authorities.
The Georgian authorities have refused to impose sanctions against Russia, saying that only Georgia itself will suffer from this. At the same time, Georgia complies with the international sanctions and provides political and humanitarian support to Ukraine.
Reprinted from https://sputnik-georgia.ru
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