Georgia will cooperate with anyone who respects its sovereignty, people’s choice, ruling party parliamentary leader

Georgia will cooperate with all partners who recognise the country as an independent and sovereign state and respect the choice of the Georgian people, parliamentary majority leader Irakli Kirtskhalia said during a parliamentary plenary session on Tuesday.

Kirtskhalia said Georgia’s national interests would remain the main consideration in government decision-making, rather than whether a particular decision was welcomed abroad.

He referred to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s recent address to the UN General Assembly, saying it had reaffirmed Georgia’s positions on peace, sovereignty, national interests and the country’s right to determine its own future.

The MP also said the peaceful restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity remained the country’s principal national objective. He said Kobakhidze’s appeal to Georgia’s Abkhaz and Ossetian citizens demonstrated the government’s emphasis on dialogue, reconciliation and rebuilding trust.

“Georgia has friends and partners, but the right to decide Georgia’s future belongs only to the Georgian people,” Kirtskhalia said.

He added that this principle would not change because of political pressure from abroad, the interests of other countries in the region or changing political circumstances in foreign capitals.

The lawmaker stressed the ruling Georgian Dream team had received a mandate from voters to ensure that state policy served Georgia’s interests and that decisions were made on the basis of national rather than foreign interests.

He also said Georgia should not allow political scenarios to be tested at the expense of peace and that the country’s national interests could not become a subject of compromise.

“Therefore, when making each decision, the main question will not be who outside the country will like our decision, but what it will bring to Georgia,” Kirtskhalia said.