“I am convinced that representatives of Georgian Dream do not care at all what our long-time partner - the United Kingdom - says about them. The propaganda carried out by ‘Georgian Dream’ is extremely dirty: they claim there is dictatorship, that someone is imposing things on us, forcing us, keeping us in a ‘crosswind,’ and so on,” said one of the leaders of “Lelo - Strong Georgia,” Tazo Datunashvili, commenting on the assessments made by representatives of “Georgian Dream” regarding critical remarks about Georgia in a report by the UK Parliament.

As he stated on the program “Day's Newsroom” on PalitraNews, Western countries will continue to publish critical reports about Georgia, as the country is moving away from Europe.

“I have a much better opinion of the Georgian people than this absurdity - that the UK is supposedly governed by a ‘deep state,’ and that this ‘deep state’ cannot defeat Bidzina Ivanishvili. Honestly, think about it - it's Monday morning - this ‘deep state’ defeated the British Empire, but cannot defeat Ivanishvili in Chorvila? Whoever believes this nonsense, good luck to you. The issue is simple: Europe will continue writing reports about us. Why? Because, at least declaratively, we are still heading in that direction, despite the fact that ‘Georgian Dream’ talks about multilateralism,” Datunashvili said.

In his opinion, “Georgian Dream” and Bidzina Ivanishvili want to “lock the country in.”

“Ivanishvili’s whole ‘drive,’ his entire political paradigm, is that just as he sits locked away in Chorvila, in a fenced and enclosed area, he wants to lock the country the same way. This is a provincial attitude - ‘let’s hide behind a tree and maybe the caravan will pass us by’… it won’t work like that,” Datunashvili said.

Regarding the UK Parliament’s call on the government to impose new sanctions on officials of “Georgian Dream,” as well as on Georgian kleptocrats and media organizations, Tazo Datunashvili said this is not out of the question.

“For the civilized world, sanctions have a damaging effect, if we look at it from that paradigm. But if we look from the bandit-like approach that ‘Georgian Dream’ has, they may not seem to do much. However, reality is different - look at Russia and what sanctions are doing there. These sanctions were not initially imposed with the aim of collapsing a country that endured 70 years of communism; sanctions are a complementary phenomenon. The same will apply to Georgia, but for us this is the main issue today - sanctions may be imposed, we may even be excluded from organizations, and they may say that relations with us are no longer possible,” he said.

According to him, the government has failed to establish strategic partnerships with any civilized country.

“The corridor that is supposed to pass through the South Caucasus cannot be fully functional without the Anaklia port. By now, it should already be underway; the government should be working on it. The Americans were pushed out? The project has been stalled for years with the Chinese. Do you know why? Because the Chinese do not intend to do anything here. Their partnership with ‘Georgian Dream’ was essentially just a piece of paper. The foreign policy of ‘Georgian Dream’ is fundamentally flawed. It is based on the mental disorder of one sick man, nothing more. A man who is locked away ‘there.’ Apart from his family members and three security guards, he speaks only to Irakli Kobakhidze - and what kind of information carrier can Kobakhidze be? We have plunged such a large country into this unhealthy mindset, a country that today could have had a million windows of opportunity open,” Datunashvili said.

He also spoke about the discussion of a report on Georgia scheduled for April 1 within the 50th session of the Congress of the Council of Europe, sharply criticizing statements made by the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

“What this unclear political figure says interests no one on Earth except that segment of ‘Georgian Dream’ voters who consume this propaganda. Shalva Papuashvili is a nobody, he could have no real influence on society, but he is part of a ‘hybrid war’ machine. The UK has already clearly labeled ‘Imedi,’ ‘POSTV,’ and what they do - as a ‘hybrid war machine’ fighting in Russia’s interests. Papuashvili is just an inflated cog in this system, brought onto television to voice all kinds of filth,” Datunashvili said.

He added that the Baltic states are friends of Georgia and that Georgia became an EU candidate country thanks to their lobbying.

“To say about them that because they are post-Soviet countries, communism is being established there is intellectual blindness, moral degradation, and an insult to the Georgian soul. These people have always stood by us - they laid themselves over bombs during the August war and came to Tbilisi to defend us,” he said.

According to him, peace in Georgia is not a merit of Bidzina Ivanishvili.

“God forbid that this long-suffering country and every Georgian should owe their salvation in any way to Bidzina Ivanishvili. That would mean we have completely collapsed. I agree with Papuashvili that we must defend our position - but why do you stand at that podium every morning and speak only about the EU? My friend, you are afraid to say what should be said about Russia - at least say half of it, at least criticize them sometimes. Those are the people whose army is stationed 30 km from where you stand and who are carrying out genocide against your nation. If you are not a coward, Shalva Papuashvili, why don’t you do that? But you are afraid - and pro-Russian. Shalva Papuashvili is a ‘viceroy,’ part of the occupation regime. He is an instrument of Russia’s hybrid machine not only against the Georgian people but also in the Russia-Ukraine war. The propaganda he voices is later used by the Russians, including against Ukraine,” Datunashvili said.

He also commented on NATO’s annual report, noting that Georgia has drifted away from the Alliance, which he described as a tragedy for the country.

“The process of distancing from NATO began long ago, unfortunately - it is a tragedy. Society failed to pay enough attention to it at the time. In this process, NATO has reached the point where it no longer speaks to Georgia as a guaranteed future member, but rather as it does to other Caucasus countries, because it values maintaining good relations with the Georgian Armed Forces. NATO will be very cautious in this direction - this is a catastrophe for Georgia,” Datunashvili stated.