PM Kobakhidze: Georgia ‘more independent today than in two centuries'

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday claimed that Georgia is "more independent today than at any time in the past two centuries" as the country marked its Independence Day.

Speaking in Tbilisi at a ceremony where military conscripts took their oaths, Kobakhidze hailed the “strength of Georgian sovereignty,” calling it a “supreme value” that the government was determined to protect.

“Georgia’s independence and identity are the supreme value, without which nothing has any value,” he said. “Its preservation should be the subject of our daily concern, and as the head of the Georgian government, I promise you that this will definitely be the case.”

The prime minister’s remarks come as opposition leaders, civil society organisations, and former President Salome Zourabichvili accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of weakening democratic institutions and drawing the country closer to Moscow.

Kobakhidze also warned against what he described as the “persistent threat of division,” comparing today’s political climate to Soviet-era tactics.

“The main enemy of independence and freedom is hatred,” he said. “Just as the Soviet government stirred up hatred in Georgia 35 years ago, today our ill-wishers are trying to sow the same seeds of discord among our people.”

Georgia celebrates its Independence Day each year on 26 May, commemorating the 1918 declaration of independence from the Russian Empire by the Georgian National Council, led by Noe Zhordania. The short-lived First Republic was overthrown by Soviet forces in 1921. Georgia regained independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.