For us, Russia has been an occupier since August 2008 and it does not matter what it did in another country. I will remind everyone once again that we defeated Russia in Strasbourg and The Hague, where it was already officially, in all documents, called an occupier, - this is how the First Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Dream faction, Levan Machavariani, responded to the statement of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, in which he speaks about the changed rhetoric of the opposition towards Russia.

According to Levan Machavariani, the opposition and part of the non-governmental sector do not act independently. According to Machavariani, their rhetoric regarding Russia only changed in accordance with the instructions they received after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"You remember well what Saakashvili, Khoshtaria, Japaridze were talking about, they unilaterally opened visa-free travel to Russia, they transferred our strategic facilities to Russian state-owned companies, they voted decisively for Russia to join the World Trade Organization, they met Russian tourists at the border, because they had such a task and they became Russophobes only after Russia invaded Ukraine and it turns out that Russia became an occupier only after it invaded Ukraine. For us, Russia has been an occupier since August 2008 and it doesn't matter what it did to another country. To this day, Russia is an occupier, this reality and this legacy, unfortunately, we have accepted and I will also remind everyone how the National Movement signed a treacherous resolution, where they blamed our military for starting the war, while the Georgian Dream won all the court cases. In Strasbourg and The Hague, we have mentioned these risks to our heroic military, and Russia has been declared an occupier.

The rich NGOs, the collective “Lomjaria-Gigauri” are an integral part of this agent opposition as usual. They act in synchrony, receive orders from the same forces, and, accordingly, whatever rhetoric and narrative the agent opposition puts forward, this clan of rich NGOs also carries out exactly the same rhetoric and narrative… They have no opportunity or right to express their opinion independently, and this is the fate of an agent: they must do whatever they are told. Whether they like it or not, whether they agree or disagree, their ability to think is forbidden and, therefore, they are obliged to act only in accordance with the tasks and instructions,” Machavariani said.

He spoke about the statements of representatives of the previous government that “Russian money does not smell” and noted that “such statements can be found in abundance in the archive.”

Machavariani also drew attention to the decisions of international courts and noted that, unlike the resolution signed by the previous government, the Georgian Dream won all the processes in Strasbourg and The Hague.

“We remember that after the August war, unfortunately, the United States and Russia reset their relations. We also remember that after the war, just a few months later, the military parade [in Moscow] was attended by many leading European countries, I deliberately did not list them, because then the smearing of Russia was not on the agenda and the agents did not have the right to raise their voice. I will add to the impudent statement of “Girchi” Japaridze that “what is the problem with the fact that Russian state-owned companies became the owners of our strategic facilities?” They also framed such impudent acts. Accordingly, the agenda changed, a campaign to smear Russia was decided after the invasion of Ukraine, and only then did Russia become an occupier for them. For us, Russia was an occupier after the August war and is an occupier today. I would like to remind everyone once again that we won the processes against Russia in Strasbourg and The Hague, where Russia was officially named the occupier in all documents," said Levan Machavariani.

For information, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, released a statement on social media, where he spoke about the level of “Russophobia” in the country after the 2008 war. According to him, “people who are the main “Russophobes” today, welcomed Russian tourists, Russian money, and the deepening of economic and cultural ties between the countries shortly after the August war.”

“After Russia’s occupation of Georgian territories in 2008 and the recognition of Abkhazia and “South Ossetia” as independent states, the National Movement not only did not pursue a strict policy towards Russia, but soon after the end of the war, the regime’s leader met Russian citizens directly at the border and invited them to Georgia for tourist trips and business activities.

Neither the representatives of the National Movement regime nor their followers expressed any protest against this policy at that time. Moreover, we all remember how today's main "Russophobes" - Elene Khoshtaria, Zurab Japaridze, Misha Mshvildadze and others welcomed Russian tourists to Georgia, Russian money, which then "had no smell", and the deepening of trade, economic and cultural ties with Russia. Let us remind you that all this was happening after Russia had already recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and diplomatic relations between the two countries had been severed," Irakli Kobakhidze wrote.