Opposition leader accuses Georgian Gov’t of ‘deliberate betrayal, pro-Russian agenda

Levan Sanikidze, a senior figure in the opposition United National Movement, has accused Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, of pursuing a “deliberate betrayal” of the country’s national interests, claiming they were already “midway” through a long-term plan to dismantle Georgia’s sovereignty.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Sanikidze alleged that the government had increasingly aligned itself with Russia and abandoned Georgia’s pro-Western aspirations.

“In 2018, Georgian Dream wasn’t openly expressing pro-Russian positions. But as time passed-especially after the war in Ukraine-they were forced to pick a side, and they chose Russia’s,” Sanikidze said.

He also criticized what he described as public desensitization to controversial statements by the government, citing past remarks about Georgian war hero Giorgi Antsukhelidze as an example of rhetoric that went unchallenged.

“They made statements about Antsukhelidze before, and we let it slide. If we do the same now, they’ll go even further-next they’ll reopen the Abkhaz railway,” he warned.

Sanikidze concluded that Georgian Dream’s “agenda was the permanent dismantling of the country.”