Irakli Pavlenishvili: Against the background of unprecedented repression, such intensive rallies mean that Bidzina Ivanishvili has not broken the Georgian people; there are parallels between Vučić’s government and “Georgian Dream”

A great many people came out to the protest. When so many thousands of people come out to rallies and permanently take part in marches, this is a sign that Ivanishvili’s regime is illegitimate, – this is how Chairman of the Governing Council of the National Movement Irakli Pavlenishvili assesses the rally held yesterday organized by opposition parties.

Pavlenishvili noted that he is satisfied with the number of people who came to the rally and that “against the background of unprecedented repression, such intensive and large-scale rallies mean that Bidzina Ivanishvili has not broken the Georgian people.”

“As for the specific numbers, against the background of repression that is unprecedented in the history of our country, such intensive and large-scale gatherings truly mean that Ivanishvili has not broken the Georgian people and their protest spirit.

I personally was truly satisfied with the number of people and the spirit that I saw at Tbilisi State University and later on Rustaveli Avenue,” Irakli Pavlenishvili noted.

Pavlenishvili also responded to the events underway in Serbia and to the statement by Serbia’s former president Aleksandar Vučić, in which he declares that his team’s defeat in the elections was confirmation of a revolution that consisted of the direct support of various European countries and the American “deep state.”

According to him, “it is no coincidence that pro-Russian leaders repeat the same narratives as those in ‘Georgian Dream,’ therefore we are not dealing with any particular novelty.”

“It is good that the protest movement – not only the pro-Western and pro-European one, but also the anti-corruption one – achieved victory. I am convinced that this will bring a good result for Serbia.

Just as Vučić and other pro-Russian governments across the whole of Europe and not only in Europe constantly talk about these conspiracy theories, about an aggressive West, about opening a second front and about the ‘deep state,’ so it is in Georgia. The youth and, among them, people who came out with anti-corruption goals and not only with pro-Western goals, are also fighting there for freedom; they were fighting there and they are fighting here as well. By the way, practically identical years have passed since Vučić and Ivanishvili came to power. Therefore, of course, there are parallels, although unfortunately, for a number of reasons Serbia had advanced further on the path of Western integration than Georgia,” Irakli Pavlenishvili noted.

Pavlenishvili also spoke about the European Union’s annual enlargement report, which is to be published in November 2026, and noted that “under the conditions of Ivanishvili’s Georgia, talking about Europe is absolute inadequacy.”

“Talking about Europe under the conditions of Ivanishvili’s Georgia is absolute inadequacy; this man is adopting every dictatorial law that anyone in the world has probably thought of. Against this background, talking about European integration is absurd and unserious, and no one is discussing Georgia in this context,” Irakli Pavlenishvili noted.