Russian foreign intel head: US undermines Georgian Dream, supports opposition
The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin (L) says that the US is dissatisfied with the governance of the Georgian Dream. Photo: intercourier.com.ua.
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The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin says that the US is undermining the Georgian Dream leadership ‘for its disobedience’ and is backing the country’s opposition.
Naryshkin claims that the US ‘has become accustomed to managing the political process in Georgia’ since the time of the third President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and currently ‘is dissatisfied’ with the ‘disobedience’ of the Georgian Dream leadership.
The White House is annoyed that the Georgian Dream is not fully fulfilling the directive to unconditionally follow the Euro-Atlantic integration course,” said the official statement of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
Naryshkin says that the US is now backing the opposition ‘to restore’ its influence in Georgia and also encourages the country’s European partners to support the opposition.
Former Ambassador of the US to Georgia Ian Kelly has tweeted:
Wow. Just wow. https://t.co/73fTaPlFdj
— Ian Kelly (@ikelly731) March 9, 2021
The Georgian Dream MP Irakli Chikovani has responded to Naryshkin on behalf of the ruling party that statements made by Russia ‘are incapable of benefiting anyone in Georgia.’
It is one more attempt by Russia to spread its narrative to Georgia. However, their attempts will be useless,” Chikovani said.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry says that Naryshkin’s statement aims to ‘provoke destabilisation and polarisation in Georgia.’
With such statements Russia tries to spark nihilism, polarisation and destabilisation in Georgia which is against peace and stability not only in Georgia but in the whole region,” Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Vakhtang Makharoblishvili has stated.
He says that the statement is part of the Russian hybrid war.
The EU and US have been involved in negotiations between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition since the end of the last year to help the parties end the current political tension.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry says that Naryshkin's statement has 'provocative goals.' Photo: Foreign Ministry press office.
Five of eight Georgian opposition parties which have won seats in the 10th convocation of the Georgian parliament have been demanding repeat elections since the October 31, 2020 race.
The recent arrest of the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia, for his refusal to pay bail, further complicated the tension.
Opposition parties are now demanding the release of Melia and the co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua and the repeat elections.
The dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition resumed during the recent visit of the European Council President Charles Michel to Georgia on March 1.
Michel has mandated Christian Danielsson to lead a EU-backed mediation effort in Georgia.
The Georgian Dream officials have stated that Melia violated the law and that everyone is equal before the law.
The ruling party says that repeat elections will not take place because the elections ‘were held in the full line with democratic standards and that the international community has recognised the results of the elections.’
Georgian opposition says that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Russian delegation must not be allowed into Georgia during the Council of Europe (CoE) ministerial in Tbilisi in May 2020, which Georgia will host as the CoE chair country.
Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov, whose taking the seat of the Georgian parliamentary speaker in June 2019 sparked large protests in the Georgian capital, has called Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili’s recent statement ‘a serious signal’ for improvements in Russia-Georgia relations.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said that in order for relations between Georgia and Russia to be normalised Russia must lift restrictions on flights to Georgia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that the June 2019 ‘provocations’ [referring to protests in Tbilisi] have negatively influenced the process of normalising relations between the two countries which was launched in 2012 under the Georgian Dream leadership.