Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has announced that he hopes a “practice of blackmail by certain European politicians and officials” towards the Georgian government will “finally end” with the inauguration of Donald Trump, the United States president-elect, on January 20.

The way in which the Georgian ruling party foresees Trump’s presidency altering the Georgia-EU relationship in practice remains unclear, but it seems certain that Georgian Dream is expecting a fresh attitude towards Georgia from the president elect, one which will be more favourable to his government than the Biden administration’s approach to Georgia.

In comments made on December 17, Kobakhidze said the “blackmail” has been “going on for the past three years”.

The PM claims the EU is wielding integration into the bloc as a manipulative tool against the Georgian government, aiming to polarise and radicalise country and incite internal unrest, yet this would change with the influence of Trump in the White House.

At a session in Brussels on December 16, the EU Foreign Affairs Council agreed that the bloc should suspend visa-free travel for Georgian officials holding diplomatic passports and called on the European Commission to make a proposal on the issue. 

The move to sanction diplomatic passport holders came in response to violent crackdowns by law enforcement on pro-European, anti-government protesters in Tbilisi, as part of a wider rollout of repressive measures by the Georgian Dream government against Georgian civil society.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets for 20 consecutive nights following an announcement by Kobakhidze on November 28 that Georgia would be suspending its EU accession bid until 2028 and also not accepting any budgetary grants from the bloc until that time.

Kobakhidze called the decision by the Foreign Affairs Council to sanction diplomatic passport holders an “extremely unfriendly, anti-Georgian step” which “undermined the credibility of European bodies in the eyes of the Georgian public”. The PM said that he and other members of the Georgian Dream ruling party are particularly hopeful there will be “certain changes” to EU policy after Trump’s inauguration.

On December 12, the US State Department imposed visa restrictions on 20 Georgian individuals, including law enforcement officers and members of the Georgian Dream government. This followed the US’ suspension of its strategic partnership with Georgian on November 30.

On December 1, Kobakhidze stated that his government’s relationship with the president-elect's administration “matters most to us” and “everything else is secondary”, expressing confidence Trump's inauguration would “essentially alter” the country's relations with both the US and the European Union. The PM confirmed his government had “indirect communication" with Trump’s team and were “waiting for the direct contact”.

The comments made on December 16 and 17 is not the first mention of “blackmail” by the EU to appear in Kobakhidze’s rhetoric.

“[EU] candidate status was used as a form of blackmail to incite chaos in our country and divide society,” the PM said on November 28, stating that Georgia’s EU integration “will continue when blackmailing [by European politicians and bureaucrats] ends”.

“Some European politicians and bureaucrats have attempted to frame Georgia-EU relations as a one-sided affair,” the prime minister continued, insinuating that a power imbalance has emerged between in Georgia and the EU’s relationship. 

“It is essential to emphasise that relations between Georgia and the EU are inherently bilateral and can only be bilateral. We are a proud and dignified nation with a rich history. Thus, we find it unacceptable to view our integration into the EU as a favour to be granted,” Kobakhidze said on November 28.

The Georgian prime minister has spoken about his country joining the EU “with dignity”, despite pressure from the bloc to align with European laws and values, such as attitudes towards the LGBT community and religion.

In his latest comments on December 17 the Georgian prime minister also highlighted alleged foreign efforts to return the “collective United National Movement” (UNM) – GD’s term for the Georgian pro-Western opposition – to power and stressed that such attempts “must definitely end”.

Since the current wave of protests began, Georgian Dream has been pointing to attempts by the UNM, backed by unspecified foreign actors, to instigate a “Maidan” pro-European revolution, as took place in Ukraine in 2013-14.

On December 17, Kobakhidze expressed concerns about what he called “alarming foreign funded revolution attempts” in Georgia. He claimed the public has “rejected” the call to arms, citing an alleged drop in momentum at street rallies in the capital.