Mykhailo Podolyak criticizes Georgian Gov't, says they have 'pro-Russian' values
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, January 12, 2023
The advisor of the administration of the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, in an interview with Ukrainian media, spoke about Georgia-Ukraine relations, where Georgia stands during the Russia-Ukraine war, and the situation of imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Podolyak discussed the government of Georgia and said that it is impossible to have negotiations with them because the ruling party is in his own words, 'in a different reality', as 10 months after the beginning of a war, they still do not understand 'whose side they should be on', adding that Georgian people made a huge mistake in electing the 'Georgian Dream' party.
"I have a very simple attitude towards Georgia. There are Georgian people, however, unfortunately, they made a huge mistake when they elected such a government. The government named Mr. Ivanishvili, who looks at the Russian Federation with wide-open or wide-shut eyes, expects it to solve some energy-related problems, not to continue the 2008 war, which means prolonging the occupation of Georgian territories," said Podolyak.
A representative of the Zelenskiy administration called the situation in Georgia 'strange, as according to him, the government supports pro-Russian values and at the same time, they want to have access to the European market and money.
Podolyak compared Georgia to Hungary, which wants to live by its own rules - close to Russia's authoritarian values and at the same time enjoy the benefits of the free, democratic world.
According to him, there are also many small countries, including the Baltic countries, which are ready to help Ukraine with weapons.
"There are countries like Georgia. And it will be recorded as a very surprising fact in history that the Georgian government in 2022-2023, which was attacked by the Russian chauvinist elite in 2008, continues to show disrespect to Ukraine while freeing Europe from the process of Russian expansionism. Let Georgians live with this in the future," said Podolyak.
According to Podolyak, Georgia, which was an example of democratic transformation in the past, is now in a 'strange situation' because 'reformer' President Saakashvili is being 'killed' in prison. In his opinion, the treatment of the former president will be recorded in the history of Georgia.
"It's phenomenal. The country, which in the mid-2000s was considered an example of democratic transformation, carried out powerful economic, anti-corruption reforms (yes, not without problems, but carried out), today returned to a strange situation, when they want to kill the reformist president in prison. You can understand how this will appear in the history books," Podolyak stated.
The representative of the Ukrainian government stated that the official Kyiv is calling on Tbilisi to transfer Saakashvili to Ukraine or another country for treatment. According to him, Ukraine does this not for political but for humanitarian purposes.
"For me, this is important because it is a symbolic gesture, it shows that Georgia, despite its political preferences, is not a dehumanized country. If they like, for example, the Russian Federation, God be with them, but there are humanitarian components, humanistic components that should be chosen correctly," said Mykhailo Podolyak.
