{"id":86333,"date":"2026-05-19T16:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/86333\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T16:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:26:17","slug":"kobakhidze-on-denmarks-democratic-backsliding-jamnews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/86333\/","title":{"rendered":"Kobakhidze on Denmark\u2019s democratic backsliding\/JAMnews"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a briefing held at the government administration, Georgia<\/a>\u2019s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, said he was addressing an open letter to the leaders of European institutions.<\/p>\n

In his statement, the prime minister placed particular emphasis on recent events in the Danish capital. He said the use of force by police to disperse a peaceful demonstration in Copenhagen \u2014 including the use of batons and dogs \u2014 had raised serious questions about the democratic standards promoted by the European Union.<\/p>\n


\n \"Papuashvili\u2019s
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Irakli<\/p>\n

Irakli Kobakhidze addressed his remarks to Ursula von der Leyen, Ant\u00f3nio Costa and Roberta Metsola, asking how they assessed the violence that took place in Copenhagen and to what extent such actions were compatible with the democratic and human rights standards the European Union regularly emphasises.<\/p>\n

According to Kobakhidze, developments in Europe are linked to \u201cdemocratic backsliding, economic stagnation, a migration crisis, the erosion of historical memory and the weakening of national identities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Several days ago in Copenhagen, pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked entrances to the offices of the transport and logistics giant Maersk. The protesters were opposing the company\u2019s alleged involvement in transporting cargo linked to Israel. Danish police used force to clear the area and restore order, including batons, and physically removed demonstrators from the site.<\/p>\n


\n \"OSCE
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

According to Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgia is historically, culturally and in terms of values part of the European space, as well as an EU candidate country seeking \u201cfull membership of the European family\u201d. He also said that EU bureaucratic institutions had \u201cunilaterally\u201d suspended political dialogue with Georgia, after which formats for cooperation and discussion proposed by Tbilisi had repeatedly been rejected.<\/p>\n

Kobakhidze said that, for Georgia, Europe is more than a political or economic union and is primarily viewed as a shared civilisational and values-based space founded on Christian morality, freedom, equality and democratic principles.<\/p>\n


\n \"Georgia\u2019s
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

According to the prime minister, the European Union is increasingly ignoring the \u201cnatural, cultural and historical foundations\u201d of society, which, in Kobakhidze\u2019s view, is distancing Europe from the principles that made it a symbol of democracy and the protection of human rights.<\/p>\n

At the end of the letter, Irakli Kobakhidze said Georgia expected clear answers from the European Union on the direction in which developments within the bloc are moving and what consequences the current crises could have for Europe.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Commentaries<\/p>\n

\"Nika<\/p>\n

Nika Gvaramia of the opposition party Ahali said:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is obvious that everything Kobakhidze said is madness. But it is not simply another empty outburst \u2014 although Kobakhidze has already produced plenty of those. No, this is madness carrying dangerous signals:<\/p>\n

\u2018There will be no dialogue with this government\u2019 \u2014 this is reportedly the message supporters of Georgian Dream received from Brussels, and they now seem to be waiting for it to be stated openly and publicly. This, in his view, explains the absurd claim that von der Leyen is not a legitimate interlocutor and that the European Union should somehow be viewed separately from her. In short, Kobakhidze\u2019s letter is aimed primarily at a domestic audience, preparing society for yet another defeat.<\/p>\n

Part of preparing society for defeat involves messages aimed at deeply conservative groups: \u2018They reject us, but we do not need such a Europe either.\u2019 References to \u2018the weakening of gender identity\u2019, \u2018migration\u2019, \u2018the erosion of historical memory\u2019 and the broader narrative that the West has declined while we remain the guardians of Europe\u2019s true values.<\/p>\n

An attempt to create a false parallel \u2014 the idea that \u2018they do the same things\u2019: if we use violence, they use violence too. The question is whether this applies only to past violence, ongoing arrests and political prisoners, or whether new violent crackdowns and politically motivated prison sentences are being planned. We will see soon enough.<\/p>\n

A \u2018symmetrical\u2019 response to Denmark with an element of the personal: these remarks followed sharp criticism of the Georgian authorities from Danish officials, including the minister for European affairs. We also recall that Kobakhidze himself attended the European Political Community summit in Denmark last year. However, Denmark\u2019s foreign ministry made clear at the time that participation in that format did not alter the EU\u2019s official critical stance on repression in Georgia and the suspension of the country\u2019s EU integration process \u2014 putting the Georgian Dream government in an uncomfortable position, and Kobakhidze personally in an especially awkward one.<\/p>\n

To sum up: any reasonable person will see Kobakhidze\u2019s open letter as madness deserving only ridicule. But unfortunately, madness is only the form \u2014 the substance is a very serious threat: Georgia remains outside Europe.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Eka<\/p>\n

Eka Gigauri, executive director of Transparency International Georgia, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Kobakhidze did with today\u2019s briefing:<\/p>\n

He created a specific agenda. At a time when many critical issues are dominating public discussion, he shifted public attention in a direction beneficial to himself.<\/p>\n

He once again reminded the public of his main message: that the European Union has turned against Georgia, while democracy in Georgia is supposedly flourishing \u2014 everything and everyone is protected, people are living better than ever, and only Europe is looking for reasons to criticise because it refuses to recognise this \u2018huge success\u2019.<\/p>\n

He once again repeated the Russian propaganda narrative that Europe is collapsing \u2014 there is instability, people are being beaten and arrested, and the economy is struggling. Previously, Germany and Sweden were supposedly \u2018under threat\u2019; now Denmark has been added to the list.<\/p>\n

In short, the message is simple: \u2018Think about what you prefer \u2014 Georgian stability or European poverty and instability.\u2019<\/p>\n

He reinforced his own importance by writing a letter to the leaders of European institutions. Although he knows perfectly well that in Europe no one is really interested in his letter \u2014 it may not even be read, or at most end up on the desk of some mid-level official.<\/p>\n

People in Europe understand perfectly well that whether it is Kobakhidze or someone with another surname, these people merely carry out decisions. In reality, even Bidzina Ivanishvili cannot decide many issues without coordination with Russia. And the fact that his \u2018puppets\u2019 shake hands with officials does not mean people fail to understand who really holds influence.<\/p>\n

In short, if anyone thinks this was just another routine briefing, it was not. They have several core messages:<\/p>\n

Europe itself abandoned Georgia;<\/p>\n

Think carefully about whether we need such an \u2018unstable and immoral\u2019 Europe;<\/p>\n

We stand together with the Patriarchate, we have a conservative agenda and we protect Georgian traditions. There is order in our country.<\/p>\n

All of this is clearly reflected in what they say and how frequently they repeat it. It does not matter that they are lying or that there is nothing genuinely Georgian in their actions. Their messaging is consistent, creating the impression that everything they say is true. This is done so their supporters hear it and their loyalty remains intact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kobakhidze on Denmark\u2019s democratic backsliding<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a briefing held at the government administration, Georgia\u2019s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, said he was addressing an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[46176,46177,46178,27,9826,26,46179,1045,46180,26552,46181,46182,25549,46183,46184,3229,27673,46185,46186,46187,46188,46189,46190,46191,8418,46192,8422,46193,8424,46194,8429,46195,46196,46197,46198,46199,46200,46201,8443,46202,46203,8457,46204,8470,46205,8472,46206,46207,46208,8477,46209,46210,46211,46212,1888],"class_list":["post-86333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denmark","tag-caucasus-politics","tag-copenhagen-demonstration","tag-copenhagen-protests","tag-danmark","tag-democratic-backsliding","tag-denmark","tag-denmark-democracy","tag-denmark-news","tag-denmark-police","tag-denmark-politics","tag-eu-criticism-of-georgia","tag-eu-georgia","tag-eu-politics","tag-europe-migration-crisis","tag-europe-news","tag-european-parliament","tag-european-union-news","tag-european-values","tag-georgia-briefing","tag-georgia-conservative-agenda","tag-georgia-criticism","tag-georgia-current-affairs","tag-georgia-democracy","tag-georgia-democracy-crisis","tag-georgia-domestic-politics","tag-georgia-eu-membership","tag-georgia-eu-relations","tag-georgia-europe","tag-georgia-foreign-policy","tag-georgia-governance","tag-georgia-government","tag-georgia-human-rights","tag-georgia-integration","tag-georgia-international-relations","tag-georgia-latest-news","tag-georgia-latest-updates","tag-georgia-media","tag-georgia-news","tag-georgia-opposition","tag-georgia-pm","tag-georgia-political-news","tag-georgia-protests","tag-georgia-society","tag-georgian-dream","tag-georgian-politics","tag-irakli-kobakhidze","tag-kobakhidze-statement","tag-news-in-denmark","tag-news-in-europe","tag-news-in-georgia","tag-news-in-tbilisi","tag-south-caucasus-news","tag-south-caucasus-politics","tag-tbilisi-news","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}