Lelo’s Gegelia: Foreign Minister attempted to weaponise domestic issues at niche international conference

“The regime wants to participate in certain forums and take photo opportunities for its own PR, yet it has no desire to normalise relations,” declared Grigol Gegelia, a member of the Lelo–Strong Georgia coalition.

According to Gegelia, Maka Botchorishvili has absolutely nothing in common with national interests.

“It has been proven once again that Botchorishvili is an anti-Georgian politician who has attempted to weaponise domestic political issues on the international stage. It is clear that Maka Botchorishvili and this regime have nothing in common with what is genuinely Georgian, nor with anything reasonable; they always shamelessly instrumentalise domestic political matters. We have been shown once more that this regime is anti-Georgian at its core and never serves our national interests. At a time when strategic relations with the US have been decimated, this regime is doing nothing to address American requirements or to take concrete steps forward. Instead, the regime tries to feed us these lacklustre, niche conferences as a stream of propaganda with which the nation is expected to be satisfied,” Gegelia stated.

As Gegelia noted, the United States has laid out specific, concrete steps that must be taken to normalise relations with Georgia.

“The reality of the matter is that the United States of America has set a very clear price for normalising relations, a specific list of measures that the regime must implement to achieve stability. The regime has refused to listen to Rubio or take action, leaving our strategic partnership with our most vital ally in ruins. Consequently, the regime has completely derailed our partnership with our most crucial ally.

Consequently, it is the Georgian economy, Georgian politics, and Georgia as a state that suffer. We can see that the regime is taking no genuine steps towards stabilisation. This illustrates their true approach better than anything. This regime wants to participate in certain forums and take photo opportunities for its own PR, yet it has no desire to actually normalise relations. It does nothing that would bring tangible benefits to the Georgian people, and it remains entirely unclear what good can come from this grandstanding at international conferences,” Gegelia said.

For context, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Maka Botchorishvili, participated in the ministerial meeting on “The Resurgence of Political Terrorism” in Washington, D.C., at the invitation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. She addressed the gathered delegates from around 60 countries.