Georgian Dream members respond to Mykhailo Podolyak's statement that their party 'should change their tone' when speaking about Ukraine
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, August 12, 2022
In an interview with the Voice of America, Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the administration of the President of Ukraine, said the representatives of the Georgian authorities "must change their tone" when speaking about Ukraine, or reduce their speeches regarding Ukraine if they can't do it for some reason:
"Officials in Georgia should change their tone, and if they cannot do it for some reasons, then reduce their public speeches regarding Ukraine - this will be good for their reputation," said Podolyak.
The ruling party leaders, the Minister of Defense of Georgia, Juansher Burchuladze and Anri Okhanashvili, the chairman of the Legal Affairs committee of Georgian Parliament both responded to Mykhailo Podolyak. Both of their statements express disappointment.
The Minister of Defense, Juansher Burchuladze, said that they have repeatedly tried to "warm up relations" with the Ukrainians:
"We have repeatedly tried to warm up our personal relations with our Ukrainian brothers, and this narrative, which is coming towards us, I think is not correct," said Burchuladze.
Anri Okhanashvili has called Mykhailo Podolyak a 'hostile person' to Georgia in his statement, adding that he is not interested in the opinion of someone who makes 'statements against the sovereignty' of Georgia:
"I am not interested in the frivolous, absurd positions of people who are hostile to our country. Therefore, all those people who make statements against our country and our interests, make statements against the sovereignty of our country, these people cannot be considered as persons we want.", said Okhanashvili.
This is not the first time that Mykhailo Podolyak has been critical of Georgia's ruling party. In an interview with Formula in June, when asked about whether he reads Georgian Dream leaders' statements, he responded that there is no need for him to read them when it's all just a 'street talk':
"What do I need it for? There is such a concept, as a highly cultured intellectual person. When these people speak like a street, it is not necessary to read it. I do not know how you vote for such people who speak in this tone. It is your internal choice. You may choose those who speak in the style of less educated people. If you like it, no problem. I'm in favor of both hands. This is your internal policy. They can talk, but when the war ends, we will ask each other questions on international platforms: you talked like that, you are cool guys, then explain to us why you acted like that? We will talk later. Now people are being killed here, and I am forced to listen to people who cannot argue their thoughts," said the advisor of the President's office.
According to him, there is a relationship between the governments of Georgia and Ukraine, and certain issues are being discussed, however, at the moment, it is about the perception of reputation during the war.
"In the future, they won't be able to tell us that you supported us. How did you support us when the cities were being bombed? So we should listen to the guys drinking Borjomi in Tbilisi under air strikes? We will discuss everything later. History will place the accents appropriately," Podolyak said.
