Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said Khatuna Samnidze, the chair of the Republican Party opposition group in the Parliament, had “confirmed” that a part of the domestic opposition was lobbying against the country being granted the European Union membership candidate status.
Samnidze on Tuesday alleged “specific representatives” of the opposition were “hindering” the process of Georgia receiving the status.
“I have information that [Samnidze] was referring to specific entities, in particular, it is the [opposition] United National Movement party, Lelo party and Nika Gvaramia [the founder of Mtavari Arkhi TV channel]”, Kobakhidze claimed.
We know for sure that these subjects went to Europe - and not only in Europe - where they lobbied against the candidate status. What we have been asserting for so long, it was practically confirmed by the representative of the opposition”, he concluded.
Following on her initial comments, Samnidze on Wednesday said unspecified political figures from the domestic opposition advising Georgia’s European partners behind closed doors to grant the EU membership candidate status to the country only after the 2024 Parliamentary Elections were “undermining” the opposition’s message that the country “needs the status”.