Georgian PM links “reboot” of US relations to incoming Trump administration

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday said Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and Honorary Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, had not met Robin Dunnigan, the United States Ambassador to Georgia, adding the ruling party was expecting a “reboot” of relations with the United States to take place after Donald Trump’s inauguration as the US President on January 20.

A meeting [between Ivanishvili and Dunnigan] has not been held. The current [American] administration clearly did not want tranquility in our country, and of course, the [United States] Ambassador depends on what her administration says. The Ambassador does not make a decision on this herself. All this is an indication that everything was not as it should have been. Blackmail, [and] acting with a wrong approach towards our country has continued”, the PM said.

He further claimed the current United States administration was “seeking to leave a highly complex legacy” for the incoming Trump administration.

These two months, December and January, were associated with risks. December was the most risky, and in December we could not allow anyone to blackmail the country. You could see that the protests did not start five days ago”, he said.

“Despite the fact that the OSCE/ODIHR recognised the legitimacy of the [Georgian] elections [held in October], no statements were made, and on this backdrop, the radical opposition organised permanent rallies in Tbilisi, blocked streets, and so on. The blackmail has continued”, Kobakhidze alleged.

The Government head also mentioned the incoming Trump administration by noting that “the new administration's messages are completely consistent with ours”.

The current US administration has opposed two [Georgian] laws the most - the transparency law and the anti-LGBT propaganda law. Today, the new administration has already announced that they will adopt a similar law against LGBT propaganda [in the US], which has similar content. As for the transparency law, the new administration itself speaks about problems related to non-transparency of foreign funding”, the PM continued.

Kobakhidze further expressed “belief” that the US administration's “attitude towards Georgia” would “change qualitatively” following Trump’s inauguration.