Ruling party Honorary Chair rejects US Embassy claims on financial dispute with Swiss bank

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Honorary Chair and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday responded to a social media post from the United States Embassy in Tbilisi in which the diplomatic mission claimed the official “was aware” the issue of funds related to Swiss bank Credit Suisse was “in the hands of the courts of Bermuda and Singapore, not of America”.  

The post referenced Ivanishvili’s ongoing battle with Credit Suisse to reclaim funds stolen by a former employee of the Swiss bank. The Embassy also questioned, “why is he [Ivanishvili] telling the Georgian people a different story?”

In his statement, Ivanishvili stressed the Embassy “could not point to any statement” made by him or any other GD leader in which they accused the United States or the European Union of financial blackmail. 

[ ]when we spoke about bank account theft and financial blackmail, we always specified that the forces we refer to as the Global War Party [in reference to alleged political forces in the West who allegedly seek to create a revolutionary scenario in Georgia and involve the country in the ongoing war in Ukraine] are behind this blackmail, not the US or the EU. We did not accuse the US or the EU of financial blackmail even when Credit Suisse used the resolution of the European Parliament as the latest excuse for withholding funds. Moreover, we repeatedly clarified that we did not mean the US or the EU by the Global War Party. However, we did point out that the Global War Party has significant influence over politicians and bureaucrats both in the US and the EU”, he claimed 

Ivanishvili further highlighted the circumstances as the “main reason” for his refusal to meet with American politicians and bureaucrats “as long as the financial blackmail continues”, noting the likelihood of the Global War Party’s influence on each of them was “extremely high.” 

The former Prime Minister also mentioned that he had already explained the rationale for his “position to our American colleagues in writing” and expressed readiness to discuss the contents of that letter publicly if requested by the Embassy.

The Honorary Chair of the GD highlighted his lawyers had “repeatedly disclosed detailed information to the public regarding the financial restrictions imposed” on him following the start of the war in Ukraine, adding that he was prepared to “release updated information” on the topic in the future if necessary.

He claimed the “topics of oligarchic influence, informal governance, the ‘deep state,’ and the War Party in the US” were not raised by the Georgian Government, as the issues had become “central themes” in the ongoing presidential campaign in the US. “Presidential candidate Donald Trump, along with primary candidates Robert Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy, and others, have actively discussed the topics themselves”, he added.

Ivanishvili asserted it was “precisely the Global War Party that seeks to act against Georgia’s national interests while hiding behind the US and the EU, portraying events in a manner that suggests Georgia is in confrontation not with them, but with the US and the EU”.

In his statement, the official also claimed his party was the “political force that is doing everything to protect the reputation” of the US and the EU in the “eyes of the Georgian public”, and warned, “If the Georgian society comes to believe that the attempt to change the current Government against the will of the people and return the collective National Movement to power is not the desire of the Global War Party but rather of the United States and the European Union, it will cause irreparable damage to the image of both the US and the EU”. 

Ivanishvili cautioned the public may think that it was not the Global War Party but the US and the EU that “gave the green light to Saakashvili's (the imprisoned former president) regime from 2004 to 2012 to establish authoritarianism, rig elections, commit murder and torture, terroriSe businesses, seize television stations, go to war, and lose territories”. 

Furthermore, the Georgian public might believe that in 2022, calls for a second front from the radical opposition, NGOs, and high-ranking officials of the Ukrainian government were made not on the orders of the Global War Party, but under the instructions of the US and the EU. Similarly, the Georgian public could think that it was not the Global War Party but the US and the EU that tried to destabilise the country on two occasions, in 2020 and 2022”, the Honorary Chair claimed. 

In conclusion, Ivanishvili expressed a desire to “prevent” public opinion from developing in “this direction,” adding, “we will do everything we can to oppose it; however, we will need the help of the American side in this effort”.