The visit of OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu to Georgia has drawn contrasting reactions from the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition, highlighting the country’s ongoing political divide.
On Tuesday, Sinirlioğlu met with Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili in Tbilisi, with further meetings planned with executive and legislative leaders. The Secretary General is also set to visit the village of Odzisi, located near the occupation line with the Russian-controlled Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
Ruling party MP David Matikashvili, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules, welcomed the visit as a demonstration of international engagement with Georgia’s “legitimate government.”
“No visit legitimizes the government. Legitimacy comes from the people, who made their decision in the parliamentary elections,” he said. He described the reaction from opposition forces as “complete hysteria,” claiming their alleged attempts to cast doubt on the government’s legitimacy had failed. “This is another clear step showing that the narrative pushed by radical oppositionists and their foreign sponsors has collapsed,” he added.
Matikashvili also accused elements of the opposition of trying to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, saying “their plans to create problems for the country and involve it in war have been nullified.”
Opposition politician Levan Sanikidze, a member of the Unity – National Movement, expressed concern about the optics of the visit, warning that it “may unintentionally provide political leverage” to the ruling party. “It would be better if this visit did not happen,” he said, adding that representatives of international organizations “usually come for negotiations aimed at returning the government to a critical point – such as the risk of losing visa liberalization.”
Sanikidze said he believed the visit would focus on pressing issues, including the ongoing political crisis, the potential for new parliamentary elections, and the release of political prisoners.
However, he criticized the delivery of these messages through diplomatic meetings with government representatives, suggesting they risked being diluted. “The West talks even to Hezbollah and Hamas when necessary – I’m sure the aim here is to defuse the crisis – but the way messages are conveyed matters,” he said.
