Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday responded to questions about the meeting between the Georgian Foreign Minister, Maka Botchorashvili, and the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński.
The EU Ambassador faced criticism by several foreign officials during the meeting, amid concerns raised by the bloc about the fair conduct of the October 26 general elections and ongoing protests in Tbilisi against the Government’s decision last month to halt the country’s EU accession talks until 2028.
“Life goes on, the EU Ambassador will shake hands with the Georgian Foreign Minister, cooperate, and everything will be fine – leave that man alone, he is doing everything he can for them ]those allegedly trying to spark unrest in Georgia, as the GD claims],” Mdinaradze said, defending Herczyński as “personally an excellent person who only voices the instructions he receives”.
He stressed that the Georgian Government’s legitimacy was granted not by foreign ambassadors but by the Georgian people: “The government was not legitimized by Herczyński, but by the nation and the monk. The majority of the Georgian population, the majority of voters, have given legitimacy to the Georgian Dream to govern the country.”
Mdinaradze dismissed any claims that Herczyński’s meeting with the Georgian Foreign Minister was a matter of legitimacy, reiterating that the people, not any European representative, are the source of Georgia’s authority.
On the topic of President Salome Zourabichvili, Mdinaradze criticized her behavior in the context of the ongoing political developments, calling her claims of not leaving the presidential palace following the December 14 elections “not serious.” He also discussed the upcoming election of the Georgian President, which will be conducted by delegates from Parliament, local governments, and regions like Adjara and Abkhazia.
Mdinaradze also assessed that Zourabichvili had overstepped her role as president, stating: “In the first period of her presidency, she tried to stay within the framework of her competence. Then she completely went beyond the framework of competence.” He highlighted that the new President, Mikheil Kavelashvili, will need to act within his constitutional powers, focusing on “national interests”.
He praised Kavelashvili as a “national, patriotic person” and a “very good expert in politics,” emphasizing that his actions will be aligned with Georgia’s national interests. “We trust him based on the interests of the country, not as our friend,” Mdinaradze said, ensuring full support for Kavelashvili within the ruling party.
