Ruling party MP: opposition must apologize for “mistakes, hypocrisy and harmful actions” over Ukraine war

Georgian Dream MP Levan Machavariani on Thursday said opposition parties, NGOs and activists have demonstrated “unpatriotic” and “fascist tendencies,” ignorance, falsehood and hypocrisy since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, arguing that they owe an apology to the Georgian public.

Machavariani accused the groups of making a series of allegedly false predictions about Ukraine, including that Russia would be defeated with Western assistance, Ukraine would rapidly join NATO and the EU, and frozen Russian assets would be transferred to Ukraine.

He said that nearly five years into the war, none of those expectations had been fulfilled, while the same actors had failed to criticize what he called the failure to deliver on those promises.

Machavariani also criticized what he described as excessive displays of solidarity with Ukraine, including support for Ukrainian refugees and widespread use of the Ukrainian flag, arguing that some of those who showed solidarity had not demonstrated comparable support for Georgians displaced by conflict.

He further accused opposition figures of advocating Georgia’s involvement in the war, citing calls to take advantage of Russia’s difficulties and launch military action in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.

According to Machavariani, opposition groups also attempted to pressure the Georgian government into accepting demands from Kyiv that, he claimed, would have led to direct military confrontation with Russia.

He criticized what he called the opposition’s failure to defend Georgia’s ambassador to Ukraine after Kyiv recalled him, while also accusing opposition figures of supporting Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin during his 2023 mutiny in Russia.

Machavariani said critics had sought to create the impression that Georgia was not supporting Ukraine, while highlighting the government’s claim that Georgia joined international resolutions and documents supporting Ukraine, accommodated nearly 30,000 Ukrainian refugees, provided social assistance and enabled Ukrainian children to study in their native language.

He concluded that the opposition, NGOs and activists had made so many mistakes and demonstrated such “falsehood and hypocrisy” over the war that their involvement in politics was “a tragedy,” adding that they owe an apology to the overwhelming majority of Georgian society.