Kobakhidze: People who welcomed all things Russian between 2008 and 2012, including tourists and money, now make different statements

“There were people who welcomed all things Russian between 2008 and 2012, and even after that, including tourists, money from Russia, and so on, and who attended concerts, including in Russia itself. Now, those same people are making entirely different statements. This double standard demonstrates that these individuals are, at their core, foreign assets,” Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists in Shindisi.

According to the Head of Government, such individuals act not based on what is happening in the country, but rather on instructions from abroad.

“Generally speaking, there are people in Georgia, including politicians, so-called ‘NGO-ers’, party activists, and figures from the cultural sphere, whether genuine or self-proclaimed, who act entirely on foreign orders. Looking specifically at these cultural figures, the same pattern is evident. The heroism of Shindisi had only recently taken place when representatives of the cultural sector saw no shame in travelling to Russia to hold concerts; it was only after the Russian invasion of Ukraine that they began making anti-Russian statements, and only then did they stop travelling to Russia. All of this points to one thing: there exists a certain caste of people in our country who act not according to their own principles or convictions, but according to what they are ordered to do from abroad. Unfortunately, this extends even to figures in the cultural sector, which is a truly tragic phenomenon.

They have nothing to say; neither Saakashvili nor any other representative of the United National Movement has anything genuine to say, because the facts are stubborn and very simple. Some people welcomed all things Russian between 2008 and 2012, and even after that, including tourists, money from Russia, and so on, and who attended concerts, including in Russia itself. Now, those same individuals are making entirely different statements. What does this double standard indicate? That at their core, these people are foreign assets. They act not based on what takes place in this country, but according to what they are told to do from abroad,” declared Irakli Kobakhidze.