“Georgia’s democratic regression is a story of the last five years, which began after Giorgi Gakharia’s resignation from the post of Prime Minister,” MP Giorgi Sharashidze, member of the Gakharia for Georgia party, has stated.

As Sharashidze noted, Georgian Dream does not want Europe because it cannot maintain power under conditions of European democracy.

“The European integration process was, of course, deliberately suspended by Georgian Dream. GD does not want democracy in this country, does not want Europe, because it cannot maintain power under conditions of European democracy. This is the primary problem, and this is why Georgian Dream is a regime that betrays the national interests of the Georgian people and the state.

What is surprising about the fact that the European Union was assessing Georgia’s progress negatively even a year ago? One might argue over words, but in reality, I understood this letter as a general acknowledgement of the regression that Georgia had experienced, and not as confirmation of this fact.

Do you think the EU Ambassador would want to record such an important position and limit himself to one of the routine letters sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? What significance does the statement have? Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement of November 28, do you want to say it was adopted on November 28?

An entire series of events preceded Kobakhidze and Georgian Dream in making this decision. During the elections, GD was promising the people, on the one hand, a dignified path towards Europe, but what kind of path and dignity we received; everyone saw that.

Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement was simply a confirmation of where Georgian Dream was heading anyway. I don’t think it has great significance how these statements align with each other in terms of dates.

Irakli Kobakhidze, in this case, is the de facto so-called leader of the government, and his statement was, of course, taken as official confirmation from Georgia’s side. That is why, and not because the position changed overnight. You’re fixating on the statement and the date, but I’m telling you that with this statement, Kobakhidze confirmed the direction that Georgian Dream has been heading towards.

Of course, this democratic backsliding is not a story of just the last year. In reality, this democratic backsliding is a story that has unfolded over the past five years, beginning with Giorgi Gakharia’s resignation from the position of Prime Minister. It has manifested both as a decline in democratic standards and as a shift in Georgia’s foreign policy direction. So, what is surprising about Irakli Kobakhidze confirming this three to four years later? Sharashidze stated.

For context, today, a letter from the EU Ambassador, Paweł Herczyński, addressed to Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was circulated. According to available information, the letter, dated November 5, 2025, reveals that the European Union had itself decided to suspend Georgia’s accession process as early as June 27, 2024, which is five months before Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement. On November 28, 2024, Kobakhidze announced that Georgia’s government would not seek to open negotiations with the European Union until the end of 2028; although he stated that the government would accept a proposal should one be made.