“Can you imagine this: Iran’s foreign minister was invited to Davos, while Georgia’s foreign minister was not? As Canada’s prime minister said, ‘When you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.’ Georgia today is no longer at any table and is instead presented on the menu,” said Giorgi Rukhadze, founder of the Center for Strategic Analysis, speaking on PalitraNews’ program “Day Newsroom” about Georgia’s international isolation.

According to him, Georgia’s international engagement today is limited to visits by the de facto authorities to the United Arab Emirates seven times a year and to Hungary eight times a year.

“Three years ago they were present in Davos and claimed it was a crucial forum that would bring investments to Georgia - what changed? If it was important three years ago, why isn’t it important today? If five years ago Georgia’s prime minister was constantly present there, why not now? If it was pointless, why did they go back then? This isn’t just about the Davos Economic Forum in isolation - today, geopolitical issues are mainly decided there. Can you imagine that Iran’s foreign minister was invited and Georgia’s was not? And that after what Iran’s authorities did to their own people - his invitation was suspended because of that. This isn’t only about whether it was economically profitable; this is the center of world politics. And as Canada’s prime minister said, ‘When you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.’ Accordingly, Georgia today is no longer at any table and is on the menu. And when you’re on the menu, what used to be yours - be it transit routes or something else - will no longer pass through you and will go elsewhere. Davos itself isn’t the problem; you can skip one forum a year. But name a single major forum where world leaders gather and Georgia is represented - neither the Munich Security Conference, nor GLOBSEC, nor any other major forum. Representatives of the de facto authorities go either to the UAE seven times a year or to Hungary eight times a year - that’s the extent of their international engagement. And even that won’t last; I’m sure when the government changes in Hungary, it will end,” Rukhadze said.

Speaking about relations between Georgia’s authorities and the U.S. presidential administration, Rukhadze noted that Donald Trump does not even consider Georgia’s government worthy of criticism. He explained this partly by Trump’s personal agenda and partly by the Georgian government’s unprofessional, contradictory - and often insulting - policy toward the United States.

“There are two issues here. First, President Trump probably does not see Georgia as a point of such importance that would require his personal involvement, just as he decided Armenia and Azerbaijan are more important to his agenda, as they fit better into his agenda of ending wars. He even named a corridor the ‘Trump Corridor,’ through which cargo that should have passed through Georgia will pass in the future. But the second and main issue is the Ivanishvili regime’s attempt to communicate with the Trump administration in a very unprofessional and contradictory manner, often crossing into outright insult. When you attack an ambassador, you attack a country - regardless of who its president is. The manner in which the Ivanishvili regime tries to build relations with the Trump administration is so insulting and unconstructive that it’s hard to see how anything could come of it. There’s a saying: ‘The mouse dug and dug and ended up digging out a cat.’ Trump has already shown that some people dug out that cat - and I’m sure these people might dig it out too,” Rukhadze said.

Assessing the Georgian government’s recent actions - particularly the detention of protest participants - Rukhadze said this amounts to a classic dictatorship.

“This is a very clear example of the kind of regime we’re dealing with and how closely it resembles the Russian regime. These laws and steps taken against their own people are characteristic of a classic dictatorship - when people are detained for holding a blank sheet of paper, for standing on a sidewalk, and for the absurd reasons for which Giorgi Vashadze, Zurab Japaridze, and others spent time in prison - because of their political decision not to appear before certain commissions. That’s precisely a politician’s right - to decide whether or not to go to a parliamentary commission. Society must see that the longer the Ivanishvili regime stays in power, the worse this country will become, because there is no better alternative under this government. They will keep doing worse and worse things until we manage to remove them from power. It’s absurd - how can you send someone to prison for standing on a sidewalk?”

“I congratulate Giorgi Vashadze on his freedom. I’m sure he will reengage in politics with great energy and contribute to strengthening - and most importantly, uniting - the opposition,” Rukhadze concluded.