“Some states and politicians are actively working to influence Georgia’s political landscape to ensure their desired outcome—placing individuals in power who are not supported by Georgian voters, but who serve their interests by carrying out specific assignments,” stated Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili during a broadcast on Imedi TV.

The Foreign Minister noted that there are politicians in Georgia who openly act on instructions from foreign bureaucrats and politicians, attempting to steer the country’s domestic politics in that direction.

“That such a group of politicians exists in Georgia is beyond doubt, and they prove it – they watch for instructions from some bureaucrat or foreign politician and must follow them, and Georgian political processes must follow suit. This is naturally aimed primarily at damaging Georgia’s national interests, and there is no good intention behind it,” Maka Botchorishvili stated.

The Minister discussed the perspectives of international partners regarding Georgia’s judiciary and political institutions, specifically addressing certain comments made by foreign representatives. She emphasised that such approaches are inconsistent with European values, including the rule of law and equality before the law.

“It is complicated to find legal justification for these statements and generally justify calls for punishing judges, imposing sanctions on judges, or influencing the court in this way, and then coming out to speak about judicial independence and giving lectures on how justice should be supreme and everyone should be equal before the law. The act of justifying lawbreakers, demanding punishment for judges who issued decisions in cases of legal violations, and calling for sanctions to be imposed is illogical. None of this aligns with European values whatsoever,” the Minister remarked.

Maka Botchorishvili emphasised the importance of defining the kind of state “we aspire to live in.” She stated that political and legal processes in Georgia should be driven solely by national interests, rather than by directives from external actors.

“We cannot continue to live in a way where someone dictates to you who should be arrested and who should not, who should be held accountable and who should not. There should be no list of untouchable individuals who are above the law and can act with impunity. This has become even more brazen, and we see daily that your statehood, your constitution, and your legislation are being demonstratively insulted and trampled upon. Do we want such a state for our children? Where a politician comes out, insults the state, constitution, law, and state institutions, and then dares to claim they should be in politics and power? I don’t know how pleasant and desirable it is to live in such a state,” declared the head of the foreign ministry.