Kurt Volker: "Georgian Dream" is trying to stay in power by demonizing the opposition - this will take Georgia too far from the EU

Georgian Dream seems to be trying to ensure it stays in power by demonizing the opposition, claiming it can do this and still stay on track with the EU. Which is not true, it will take Georgia very far from the European Union, Kurt Volker, the former US ambassador to NATO and a representative of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said in Tbilisi Rooms, where the McCain Institute, the George Bush Institute and the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) are hosting the 8th Tbilisi International Conference called "Transitional Year".

He also emphasized the importance of proactivity and unification of the opposition and noted that they should present a clear alternative choice.

"The most important issue is the upcoming elections, and the most important thing is that they should be as free and fair as possible, and the Georgian people should have the opportunity to express themselves.

You can have this kind of ["transparency of foreign influence"] law, although it is not in line with the European Union, it is not in line with the practice of the United States, it puts unprecedented pressure on civil society, which is a great shame, but this is what the Georgian people and their elected Leaders must decide.

We are heading towards elections in Georgia and everyone is building their narrative based on how they want to attract voters, what they want voters to believe. Georgian Dream seems to be trying to ensure it stays in power by demonizing the opposition, claiming it can do this and still stay on track with the EU. Which is not true, it will take Georgia very far from the European Union. Therefore, it is important for the opposition parties to unite as much as possible, to give the Georgian voter a clear choice, so that the voter can decide whether he believes in this narrative and wants to go this way, or if he believes in a more democratic and European future for Georgia. This is a choice that the opposition leaders have to make, and they do not have the luxury of being divided and fragmented as they are now," Volker said.

After the victory of "Georgian Dream" in the elections, he also evaluated the statement about declaring the opposition parties illegal and called this step undemocratic.

“I hope it's part of the campaign rather than something they're serious about.

He also responded to the president's involvement and noted that he is the voice of conscience.

"I think the president has done an amazing job, he is the voice of conscience, he speaks in the interests of the country as a whole, he tries to be a little higher than talking about this or that political party and he speaks about the interests of the country. I think he did a great job in this direction", said Volker.

He called the narrative that the United States is part of the global war party nonsense and noted that the current Georgia-US relationship is disappointing.

"Absolute nonsense, of course, no, it's an embarrassing statement. This is the political narrative that they are trying to establish that there is a "global war party", this is absolute nonsense, nobody wants this war but Putin, and if you want to end the war, tell Vladimir Putin to stop the war. He is the only one who causes it and perpetuates it.

Now we have a situation where the government of Georgia repeatedly attacks the United States and distances itself from relations with the United States. Presenting the issue in such a way that the United States should do something about it, in fact, it should be done by the Georgian government," said Volker.