If Marat Kambolov becomes “president,” he would probably be ready to sign anything, including the annexation of the occupied territories into Russia’s sphere, — Mamuka Gamkrelidze, Secretary General of the European Democrats, former Georgian ambassador to China and co-founder of the Anti-Annexation Platform, said on PalitraNews’ “Day Newsroom,” assessing the so-called presidential election underway in occupied Tskhinvali.

According to Gamkrelidze, Georgia should develop a strategy for how to withstand the pressure from Russia that may be expected.

“Marat Kambolov is a person loyal to the Putin administration. He will be used as a kind of instrument for the pressure that is to be exerted on Georgia.

What this pressure will be used for is another question. If Marat Kambolov becomes ‘president,’ he would probably be ready to sign anything, including the annexation of the occupied territories into Russia’s sphere.

This is a very serious danger and a tool in Russia’s hands to keep the Georgian government under control and so on. It could even be used to intimidate opposition-minded people, saying: ‘We will annex [the territories] if you do not do what we demand.’ This is quite a serious threat. Georgia must develop an idea of what it is prepared to do, for what purpose, and how far it can go to prevent the territories from being annexed by Russia. The Kremlin may demand the reopening of the railway, concessions regarding sanctions, and so on. The Georgian people and Georgia must develop a strategy for how to withstand the Russian pressure that may be expected,” Gamkrelidze said.

Gamkrelidze also commented on EU enlargement and statements made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her address to the European Parliament. According to him, “the Georgian government has managed to pull itself almost completely out of a process that had nearly been completed.”

“They also decided that there is no point in talking about Georgia because these people will not turn back. Our government has decided to pay no attention either to the West or to the East. We are nowhere at all. We see that amid the ‘boiling’ process of global redistribution, new alliances and partnerships are constantly being created, and everyone is trying to save themselves. They say, ‘Russia’ — but does Russia want you?! Nobody needs the extra baggage,” Gamkrelidze said.

Regarding relations with China and preliminary data published by the National Statistics Office showing that China ranked first among the largest investor countries in Georgia in the second quarter of 2026, with $219.5 million, Gamkrelidze said that Georgia has been left without genuine investment and is gradually becoming a “laundromat” for foreign “black money.”

“In my view, Georgia is gradually becoming a money-laundering hub for certain countries, whether they are Arabs or Chinese. This is what keeps the country going today. There is no investment in industry, no investment in high technology. We are not receiving anything from anyone. Do you see a booming economy? I don’t. I see that there is money in Georgia, and the volume of money is large. Where is this money coming from? It is presumably ‘black money,’” Gamkrelidze said.

Gamkrelidze also commented on a statement by Iran’s ambassador to Georgia in response to a statement issued by Georgia’s Civil Aviation Agency regarding compliance with U.S. sanctions imposed on Iranian airlines.

According to Gamkrelidze, if a similar statement had been made by the German ambassador, the government would have reacted much more strongly, whereas nothing was said about the Iranian ambassador and the matter was “brushed aside.”

“It is an explicit threat. Iran is in a situation where it has shown its claws and is waving swords around. That is not right. It is a country at war, and we have to take that into account. If the German ambassador had said something like this, the government would have made such a fuss that they would not have stopped for weeks. They said nothing about the Iranian ambassador and simply let it pass.

The government is doing everything it can to distance itself from the West, including the United States. There is supposedly a move toward China and the Arab world. We know that Iran is a very close partner of China in terms of oil supplies, as well as of Russia, with which it maintains a loyal relationship. They do not want to irritate either Russia, China, or the Global South. Georgia is slowly moving toward the Global South,” Gamkrelidze said.