Georgia could have “disappeared” if it joined war against Russia, FM says

Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili has stated that her country could have “disappeared” if it had joined the war against Russia.

In an interview with Georgian television channel Imedi, she said Georgia’s authorities chose to defend the country’s sovereignty and avoid being drawn into military actions, Calibre.Az reports.

According to her, this was a position that was unacceptable to some Western countries; however, the Georgian authorities chose to defend the country.

“We did nothing wrong. We simply protected ourselves. We protected our country. We were the authorities who, at the cost of some abstract issues, did not sacrifice the country. Georgia could have disappeared altogether if it had joined military actions. No one knows where we would be today. It is hard to imagine that today any of us would be able to sit here and talk peacefully,” Botchorishvili noted.

She added that external actors found it difficult to accept Georgia’s refusal to come under pressure and enter the conflict.

“For certain forces, it is difficult to accept that a small country, a small political force — Georgian Dream (the ruling party) — dares to oppose the predetermined will and plan under which our country was supposed to have a completely different function,” she added.

On February 25, 2022, then-Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced that Georgia would not join sanctions against Russia, citing national interests.

In early March of the same year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recalled Ukraine’s ambassador from Tbilisi over Georgia’s position on sanctions.

The Georgian government’s decision was also criticised by the opposition, which accused it of cooperation with Russia.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov