Georgian Prime Minister warns that opposition might be ‘at risk of attack’ by themselves

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has claimed that leaders of the ‘radical opposition’ might be ‘at risk’ of attacks orchestrated by ‘the Collective National Movement’ in a bid to discredit the ruling Georgian Dream party.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Kobakhidze stated that the ‘collective National Movement’ were planning on staging attacks on leaders of the ‘radical opposition’ to discredit the government and October’s parliamentary elections.

Georgian Dream refers to most pro-Western opposition groups as the ‘collective National Movement’, including the United National Movement (UNM).

He also claimed that Georgian Dream had information that the ‘radical opposition’ was actively planning a criminal act that would elicit the same kind of public reaction that the high-profile Khorava Street murders of 2017 did. The fatal stabbing of the two teenagers along with the botched investigation into the killings led to widespread protests. 

Kobakhidze did not offer any additional clarification or information as to which opposition figures could be at risk, but told reporters that he was basing his statement on an ‘experience’ of such attacks.

‘We warn everyone that any such attempt will be punished to the full extent of the law’, said Kobakhidze.

Ivanishvili no longer travels by helicopter

During his press briefing, Kobakhidze again said that Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream and its current honorary chair, was at risk of attack.

‘Considering all this, our political team takes special measures to ensure the safety of the honorary chair of the party, who is the main guarantee of peace in Georgia’, he said.

‘That is why Mr Bidzina Ivanishvili does not travel by helicopter, his safety is ensured by a glass barrier at the election meetings, which is a cause of special concern of the radical opposition’.

‘We all see what is happening in Europe and America […] Prime Minister [Robert Fico] in Slovakia, and presidential candidate [Donald Trump] in the US were sacrificed’. 

Ivanishvili recently made several appearances at Georgian Dream’s campaign events throughout the country, giving speeches on a podium surrounded by bulletproof glass. Opposition figures mocked Ivanishvili, noting that other senior members of the party present at the same events, including the Prime Minister, gave their speeches and remarks from separate, unprotected podiums.

Georgian Dream has over the past year been accusing several actors, including the opposition, USAID, and Ukraine, of seeking to destabilise Georgia through the assassination of high-ranking officials, forcing the country to open a ‘second front’ against Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, or through coup attempts.

In July, the State Security Service (SSG) announced that they were investigating an alleged plot to assassinate Ivanishvili ‘reportedly organised and funded by former high-ranking officials of the Georgian government and ex-law enforcement employees currently in Ukraine’.

The PM in May claimed that an unnamed EU Commissioner — later confirmed to have been Olivér Várhelyi — had threatened him in a private phone call. 

Shortly after, the SSG announced that there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to launch an investigation into the Prime Minister’s claim that he was threatened by an EU Commissioner.

[Read more: Georgian security chief says there is ‘insufficient evidence’ of plot on PM’s life]

Kobakhidze’s Wednesday press briefing was met with criticism from the opposition; Roman Gotsiridze, the chair of the Eurooptimists parliamentary group, stated that what Kobakhidze had said about potential attacks on opposition leaders was a ‘direct threat’.

‘The second part of [Kobakhidze’s] statement, about how opposition leaders may be harmed, is a direct threat to the opposition [pointing] that we will blow you up, kill you or arrange something for you and then blame it all on the “Global War Party” ’, Gotsiridze said.

The ‘Global War Party’ is a Georgian Dream conspiracy theory claiming that a secret cabal controls the West and seeks to sow war globally.