PM: 2008 war with Russia would have been avoidable with Georgian Dream in power
In his end-of-year report summarising the work of his Government, Garibashvili noted the “main rules” serving as the basis of the global order were “changing” as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Photo: Government Administration
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday claimed the country would have avoided the 2008 war with Russia had Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and the political faction been in power at the time.
In his end-of-year report summarising the work of his Government, Garibashvili noted the “main rules” serving as the basis of the global order were “changing” as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The devastating war in Ukraine continues to this day. Since Russia started the war in Ukraine, 20 percent of the territory of Ukraine has already been occupied. We see that today the war is not stopping. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people have already died, millions of people have left the territory of Ukraine”, Garibashvili said.
He stressed that his Government had helped and was helping “our Ukrainian friends” “as much as possible”.
The challenge is there. We went through it in 2008, the August war was a great tragedy for us, for our country. Unfortunately, the then irresponsible [United National Movement] Government could not avoid this war. I have repeatedly said that if Bidzina Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream had been in power in 2008, the war would not have happened”, he told the audience.
The PM also said his Government had made decisions “solely based on the interests of the country and its citizens” over the past year, and avoided conflict on the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
We are well aware and have been openly talking to the public about the risks we face. The threat was quite real, it was not imaginary - it was a threat of destabilisation of the country. Radical groups operating inside the country, hostile forces were directly interested in dragging the country into this war situation”, Garibashvili continued.
He added his Government was assessing the risks “with utmost caution and common sense”, identifying threats, implementing appropriate prevention measures and protecting citizens and the state.