Kobakhidze Accuses Opposition of Acting Against Georgia's National Interests
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Georgian PM Irakli Kobakhidze has accused opposition politicians of working against Georgia's national interests, claiming they are actively lobbying for measures that would harm the country, including the potential suspension of visa-free travel with the European Union.
Kobakhidze was responding to comments made by Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili during a session of the Parliament's Temporary Investigative Commission. Bochorishvili had stated that some opposition leaders, including United National Movement Chair Tina Bokuchava, have discussed the possibility of the EU suspending visa-free travel as a tool to pressure the Georgian government.
According to him, this is not a new development. He said the opposition has previously attempted to block the country's path toward visa liberalization and EU integration.
"The radical opposition directly lobbied against candidate status and the opening of negotiations. They obstructed the work of working groups. This campaign against Georgia's national interests continues," Kobakhidze said. "The public made its assessment when it turned out at the polling stations on October 26, 2024, and gave a harsh response to the radical opposition."
Kobakhidze claimed that opposition politicians are now discredited in the eyes of the public because they have repeatedly acted against the country's interests both during their time in power and now as opposition leaders.
"This campaign has only one basis: they are agents, serving not their own country but certain foreign entities. This is the fate of agents when they are tasked with directly opposing their own country's national interests. This is a regrettable reality," he added.
Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili told the commission that the issue of visa-free travel has become one of the most pressing in Georgia's relations with the EU. She noted that opposition figures are raising the issue in Brussels and that this could harm all Georgian citizens, regardless of political affiliation.
"Today, the most pressing issue is the topic of visa-free travel, a 'new instrument' in relations with the European Union that could be used against Georgia. Tina Bokuchava has mentioned it multiple times, and others are mentioning it too," Bochorishvili said. "This benefit is enjoyed by every citizen of Georgia, regardless of who they support."
She also criticized the opposition for what she described as lobbying from outside institutional frameworks, referring to politicians who "renounced their mandates from the streets" but continue to influence international opinion from abroad.
