Ruling party Sec-Gen rejects ‘pro-Russian’ claims as political smear by global elites

Ruling Georgian Dream party Secretary General and Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has dismissed allegations that the ruling party was aligned with Russian interests, calling such claims a politically motivated smear campaign orchestrated by what he described as the so-called deep state.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Kaladze argued that whenever a political party emerged victorious despite being “undesirable” to international elites, it was immediately branded as pro-Russian, regardless of its actual policies.

“When a political party that is undesirable for the so-called deep state wins, they immediately introduce a Russian narrative and start smearing propaganda that they are doing Russian things,” Kaladze said. “This isn’t new - the same thing happened in the United States with Donald Trump. They called him pro-Russian when he didn’t fit the establishment’s expectations.”

He accused international media of playing a central role in shaping this narrative, claiming that powerful global actors and their media allies launched coordinated campaigns to delegitimise certain political forces by linking them to Russia.

Kaladze defended the Georgian Dream government, insisting that no one could point to a single example of the party taking actions that serve Russian interests.

“People can’t name even one example of what the Georgian Dream did for Russia,” he said. “Meanwhile, I can cite many cases from the previous government - including the sale of state assets to Russian companies.”

The Tbilisi mayor portrayed the current government as “patriotic” and focused on protecting Georgia’s national interests. “Today, Georgia has a patriotic government that is doing Georgian business, protecting the interests of our people, and this will continue in the future,” Kaladze said.