Zourabichvili Accuses Georgian Dream of Spreading 'Anti-European Propaganda'
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, April 24, 2025
5th President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili has sharply criticized recent remarks by Georgian Dream officials suggesting that visa-free travel to the European Union comes at the cost of Georgia's sovereignty. She called these statements part of a wider "campaign" designed to demoralize the public and create a false sense of conflict between European integration and national independence.
According to the Zourabichvili, this narrative is a "direct continuation" of developments that began on November 28, 2024, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced plans to pause Georgia's EU integration efforts until 2028. 5th President argued that the ruling party's rhetoric is aimed at isolating Georgia from Europe by stirring fear over potential suspension of the visa-free regime.
"This campaign does not come from Brussels or any other European capital, it comes from Tbilisi, from this regime, whose goal is precisely to stop visa liberalization," she said during an April 23 press briefing. She urged the public not to fall for what she described as propaganda and called for reflection on who is truly responsible for distancing the country from Europe.
She went on to accuse the Georgian Dream leadership of employing tactics reminiscent of Russian governance to prepare citizens for international isolation. "It is also an attempt to shift the blame onto Europe, to say they are punishing us," she added, placing responsibility on Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream's honorary chair, and what she described as "the clan that rules this country according to the Russian order."
Zourabichvili's remarks come in response to recent claims from Georgian Dream officials, including Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, who said parts of the EU bureaucracy were using visa-free travel as a "tool of political pressure and blackmail." Similar sentiments were echoed by GD Deputy Speaker Nino Tsilosani and MP Sozar Subari, who stated that Georgia's sovereignty should take precedence over visa liberalization.
