PM Kobakhidze slams US Congressman Wilson’s letter to OSCE PA as ‘Soviet approach’

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday criticized a letter co-authored by US Congressman Joe Wilson to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, describing it as embodying a “typical Soviet approach” that was “incompatible” with the values of the US and Europe.

Heads and members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegations from the US, United Kingdom, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, and members of the Swedish delegation this week co-signed a letter urging the Portuguese government to prevent representatives of Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, from participating in the 32nd annual OSCE PA session.

The @OSCEPA will meet this summer in Portugal.

Read this letter from Co-Chairman @RepJoeWilson, Ranking Member @RepCohen, and European parliamentarians calling on Portugal to block Georgian Dream officials who are undermining Georgian freedom from attending this gathering: pic.twitter.com/yyi7v6PVkw

— U.S. Helsinki Commission (@HelsinkiComm) May 14, 2025

The session is scheduled to take place in Porto, Portugal, from June 29 to July 3, 2025.

Responding to a journalist’s question regarding the letter, Kobakhidze suggested that Wilson’s stance mirrored the attitudes of the Soviet era. “This is a typical Soviet approach. If you look at Joe Wilson, he is also very similar in nature to the Secretary of the Central Committee,” Kobakhidze claimed. “These are typical Soviet approaches, which do not suit the US and Europe. We knew a different Europe, back at the end of the last century. We knew a different United States of America, not the one that Joe Wilson embodies,” the official added.

Addressed to Portuguese Prime Minister Luiz Montenegro, the letter argued that allowing Georgian Dream’s participation would serve to legitimize what the signatories described as the party’s “repressive rule” and provide them an undeserved platform within the OSCE.

The letter is signed by 28 OSCE PA members from the named countries.

The PM also expressed hope for a shift away from what he termed “Soviet attitudes” and urged the US and Europe to adopt “healthy attitudes” instead. Kobakhidze further reiterated his government’s willingness to reset relations with the US, emphasizing that Georgia was“in a waiting mode” to see what steps the American administration will take.