PM Kobakhidze says Trump administration echoes Georgia’s long-standing criticism of EU

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said that the views now being expressed by US President Donald Trump and his administration about developments in Europe mirror the concerns voiced by Georgia’s Government for years, stressing that the European Union is in urgent need of reform.

Speaking to Georgian journalists in the United Arab Emirates, Kobakhidze said the current US administration is highlighting the same negative trends in Europe that Georgian officials have repeatedly pointed out in the past.

“What we have been talking about throughout all these years is now being repeated by President Trump and his administration. This is the reality that has developed in Europe. These are the negative tendencies we have spoken about for years, and which the American administration is now also addressing,” he said.

The Prime Minister added the future of the EU depends on whether it can find the strength to reform itself.

“The European Union needs reform. This is vital for it. Whether the EU and the European bureaucracy will find the strength for such reforms is something only the future will show,” Kobakhidze added.