Ruling party head highlights Government’s “pragmatic policy” to avoid escalation, promote regional peace

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Sunday said the Georgian Government was pursuing a “pragmatic policy” designed to “avoid escalation and promote peace” in the wider region, in comments after accepting the Sabino Arana Prize in Spain for the development of Georgian-Basque ties and promotion of democracy and human rights.

In remarks at the Awards ceremony in Bilbao, Kobakhidze noted the “main goal” of the Government was to “avoid war in the country” amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, adding the objective had been “successfully achieved” over the past year.

The GD official stressed the Government was “firmly supporting” the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and had condemned Russia's military aggression “in all international forums”.

“Twenty percent of our territories are occupied by Russia, and their peaceful de-occupation is one of the main national goals of my people”, the party Chair told the audience at the ceremony.

In the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, there was a danger that the military conflict would spread to Georgia as well. It was the main goal of our Government to avoid war in our country in the first place, and we successfully achieved this”, Kobakhidze added.

“At the same time, we are pursuing a pragmatic policy to prevent escalation and promote peace in the region. Georgia is also trying to play the role of a facilitator between two neighbouring countries - Armenia and Azerbaijan. Finally, we believe that there is no alternative to peace and development and all nations must follow this path consistently”, he said.

Kobakhidze also reviewed economic growth in the country and said the figures had been achieved thanks to “peace and consistent policies”.

Despite being a small country, Georgia plays an important role for the international community, both politically and economically. Georgia geographically connects Europe with Asia and has a great potential to further develop its transit function and capabilities”, he told those attending the event. 

The Georgian official also stressed the Government’s goal was to become a full member of the European Union and said he hoped the country would receive the European Union membership candidate status in December of this year.