We failed to properly assess the structure of the Georgian Dream and the role of Bidzina Ivanishvili, - the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Parliament (Bundestag), Michael Roth, said at the meeting with the media in Tbilisi.

“Our mistake was that we failed to realize that a party in the hands of an oligarch would never meet our high democratic standards. I will say clearly that Georgian Dream belonged to my party family. We had good cooperation, they attended our party congresses. Georgian Dream was a partner of progressive parties, social democrats and socialists in the European Union. This started in 2012 and, of course, we were pleased that there were certain positive changes and we had the impression that this party wanted and could lead the country in the right direction. But every time I visited here, several colleagues from the Georgian Parliament would tell me: Look at this huge glass building on top of the hill. You will never meet him, but he is the most important person in our country. Mr. Ivanishvili is the dominant figure in this country and, of course, he is very rich,” Michael Roth answered a question about where the West made a mistake in assessing the course and positions of Georgian Dream.

According to him, the West gave Georgian Dream a chance.

“We gave Georgian Dream a chance and I was one of the first to demand that we no longer accept them into our social democratic family. Because I, like many others, realized that such behavior in a country has nothing to do with progressive politics, social democratic politics or European values. So, we failed to properly assess the party structure and the role of Bidzina Ivanishvili. This is part of self-criticism. We were silent when the regime started talking about the 'global war party'. There is only one 'global war party' and that is Russia," Michael Roth said.