Georgia has a new prime minister: Iraqi Kobachidze will lead the government of the EU candidate country. It is unclear what relationship he has with his powerful neighbor Russia.
In the Caucasus Republic of Georgia, Iraqi Kobakhidze has taken over as Prime Minister. The parliament in Tbilisi voted on Thursday with 84 votes to ten for the head of the Georgian Dream party.
He was later officially appointed by President Salome Zurabishvili, even though the head of state had questioned his loyalty to Georgia’s pro-European course a few days earlier. Critics accuse Kobachidze of wanting to bring the country closer to Russia again. The 45-year-old accuses European states and the USA of wanting to involve Georgia in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Kobachidze declared EU accession a priority
Kobachidze is politically close to his predecessor, Iraqi Garibashvili. Both share a comparatively hesitant attitude towards the country’s accession to the EU and NATO.
Before his election, Kobakhidze assured MPs in parliament that joining the EU and NATO was a priority for his government. He also acknowledged his desire to restore Georgia’s territorial integrity.
Oligarch is seen as a string puller
The previous Georgian Prime Minister Garibashvili resigned on Monday last week to become head of the Georgian Dream party with a view to the parliamentary elections in October. The resignation came just a month after influential oligarch and Garibashvili confidante Bidzina Ivanishvili returned to politics.
With his billion-dollar fortune, the party’s honorary chairman is considered the country’s most important mastermind. He wants to play a bigger role in politics again. He is said to have initiated the change in office from Garibashvili to Kobachidze. Ivanishvili, who did business in Russia, is blamed for his proximity to Moscow.
EU sets further conditions
A landmark parliamentary election is coming up in Georgia this year. The former Soviet republic on the Black Sea was classified as a candidate for EU membership at an EU summit last December.
The EU is demanding that Georgia reform electoral law and the judiciary as a prerequisite for accession – among other things, to curb corruption in the country. In its own words, the Georgian Dream party also advocates a rapprochement with the EU and sees its candidate status as a great success.
President expresses concerns
At the same time, the government maintains close contacts with Moscow. Already under Garibashvili, Georgia had refused to support the sanctions that the West had imposed on Ukraine because of Russia’s war. The pro-European President Zurabishvili, who has hardly any powers, has repeatedly accused the government of taking a pro-Russian course.
On Tuesday she asked in a report addressed to Kobachidze. “How do you want to anchor European values in our society? How do you plan to implement the EU’s recommendations before the coming election?” She held the oligarch Ivanishvili partly responsible for the wavering foreign policy course and the growing corruption in the country.
Björn Blaschke, ARD Moscow, tagesschau, February 9, 2024 11:07 a.m