Civil Georgia
March 24, 2023

PM Again Talks “Second Front” and Criticizes the Opposition

On March 24, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili was questioned in the Parliament under the interpellation procedure…..[T]he PM once again spoke about the ongoing war in Ukraine and the efforts to open a “second front” in Georgia in this context, accusing the “destructive” opposition of trying to “overthrow” the government and organize a “revolution” in the country….

The war in Ukraine and attempts to open a “second front”

During the speech, PM Garibashvili discussed the full-scale war launched by Russia in Ukraine, emphasizing the potential dangers of a third world war. He stated that “this is not an exaggerated threat” because “we understand that the rhetoric of nuclear war is increasing day by day.”

Furthermore, he also spoke again of efforts to open a “second front” in Georgia and cited the statements of high officials of the Ukrainian authorities as evidence.

“… 20% of our country is occupied and the troops of the occupying country are stationed on the historical lands of our country. The real danger facing our country today is the precise plan, the conspiracy that exists against our country, this is the so-called Ukrainization plan, the plan to open the so-called second shooting range and the opening of the second front,” said PM Garibashvili. ”The Georgian Dream” government is not a “war-minded government”, “they [the Ukrainian authorities] wanted [Mikheil] Saakashvili to be in power, who would start a war against Russia and join Ukraine, involving Georgia in the war,” added Irakli Garibashvili.

“I would like to remind everyone that today our country is neither a member of the European Union nor a member of NATO, we do not have any security guarantees,” said the Prime Minister, adding that “unfortunately,” Georgia’s involvement in the war “is the declared goal of the Ukrainian authorities. It is in direct correlation and coordination, it is in harmony with the goals of the “fifth column” [opposition], their intentions, their plans, their actions.”

According to the Prime Minister, the return of former President Mikheil Saakashvili to Georgia served this purpose. “According to his [Mikheil Saakashvili’s] naïve calculations, there should have been a revolution, bloodshed, the overthrow of the government by violent means, disruption of the elections.”

“If we connect this with the declared goal of the Ukrainian government, their actions, that their task was to open a second front in Georgia, I think no reasonable person will have any doubt and no question will remain that simply that yes, the goal of Saakashvili’s entry was to prepare the ground and the background, that Irakli Gharibashvili said that the war would start in Georgia as well, and noted that they “failed in this plan, the internal and external enemies of our country lost”.

***

“The so-called fifth column and the extremist, radical, anarchist forces managed by them, youth organizations controlled by them, the anarchist movements of the National Movement, Girchi – More Freedom, the so-called Franklin Club – were all directly involved in the organization of violent rallies” – noted the PM adding: “When violent groups attacked the police, threw Molotov cocktails, stones, etc. we heard calls directly from some members of the European Parliament that now is the time to overthrow this regime, to change it.” “This plan has failed and the enemies of our country have lost again,” he added.