The leaders of the Georgian Dream know very well that neither the Arab states, nor China, nor others, have the interest in Georgia of the scale and caliber that would make them global players here. The Georgian people cannot be offered a counterweight to the US or the European Union, and therefore NATO, – Grigol Gegelia, Foreign Secretary of Lelo-Strong Georgia, stated during an interview with Palitranews, thus responding to the visit of the President of the United Arab Emirates to Georgia and his meeting with the founder of the Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
As Gegelia noted, the meeting between Bidzina Ivanishvili and the President of the Emirates is a very good illustration, given the fact that he did not meet with the US Ambassador to Georgia.
In addition, he said, this meeting is also very good proof that Bidzina Ivanishvili is trying to find alternative partners instead of the political West, but he is not able to do this either.
“I think this is a very good illustration of the fact that a man who does not meet with the US ambassador, even when he knows that the ambassador is supposed to deliver to him a letter sent to him by the highest political representatives of America, including the Secretary of State, meets with the leader of the United Arab Emirates. This is very good proof that on the one hand Ivanishvili is trying to find alternative partners instead of the political West, and on the other hand, he is mostly unable to do this either. The Georgian people have stated that they want to be a member of the Euro-Atlantic system, more than 80% believe that this is the only right way and rightly so, there is no other way. There is no other way to Georgia’s national security. There are ways to Bidzina’s economic security, but we are interested in Georgia’s national security, not Bidzina’s ascendancy! Not even the direction in which country Bidzina will flee on his own plane when he has to leave the country, when Kobakhidze, Mdinaradze and others will simply leave this place and fly straight from Chorvila to some country. I want everyone to understand that Ivanishvili has now entered this phase of thinking. On the one hand, he is consolidating the system and wants it to be “held”, personalized even more firmly and clearly in his hands, and on the other hand, he is making plans. He has no economic thinking. He is not looking for any alternatives. They know very well that neither the Arab states, nor China, nor others, have the interest in Georgia of the scale and caliber that would make them global players here.
Very simply – actors such as the Emirates or China will not have the same interest in Georgia as the states of the European Union, the USA or other civilized, democratic societies have due to values and friendship, democratic partnership. I always say and I must repeat now – you cannot offer the Georgian people a counterweight to the USA or the European Union, and therefore NATO. If I were a representative of the government today, I would also trade, of course, more with the United Arab Emirates and China, more with all parties, except Russia. I would trade with everyone, because what contributes to the enrichment of my nation, what contributes to the inflow of capital, is important to me. Therefore, economic pragmatism and diversification would also be part of our foreign policy, but Ivanishvili does not do this. He makes us lose those partners and friends, without whom neither economic, nor political, nor geopolitical life and development exists and cannot exist, even because part of our country is occupied. Who is our valuable partner, the defender of the sovereignty of this nation and this state? – The European Union, the USA and NATO,” said Gegelia.
In addition, he also spoke about Mikheil Kavelashvili’s visit to New York and his speech at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, noting that “Mikheil Kavelashvili is a Russian project and the embodiment of the total political degeneration that the country has experienced.”
Grigol Gegelia: Neither the Arab states nor China have the interest in Georgia of the scale that would make them global players here – Ivanishvili is trying to find an alternative to the West, but he is not able to do this either
