Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on May 13 published an open letter he sent to the US President Donald Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance, lamenting the lack of high level communication between the governments of Georgia and the US.

The US suspended its Strategic Partnership with the Caucasus country on November 30, 2024, right after GD froze accession negotiations with the EU and set off a wave of ongoing pro-European protests across Georgia.

According to his letter, Kobakhidze had written to Trump and Vance several weeks before “concerning US-Georgia relations” and had “openly expressed Georgia’s readiness” to renew the US-Georgia Strategic Partnership from a “clean slate”, guided by a “specific roadmap”.

Kobakhidze noted in his letter that he was yet to receive a response from the Trump administration and described this silence as “surprising” and “perplexing” for both the government of Georgia and the Georgian people, arguing that his country has long remained the US’s “most reliable” strategic partner in the “volatile” surrounding region.

Kobakhidze went on to point out how Georgia had fought alongside the US in critical hotspots, including Afghanistan and Iraq, allegedly providing the highest number of troops per capita and saving America $2.5bn, an amount the prime minister noted surpasses total US financial aid to Georgia.

This figure of $2.5bn, Kobakhidze added, excludes any funds allocated by the US “to preserve the regime of former president Mikheil Saakashvili after he initiated [Georgia’s August 2008] war with Russia at the behest of the “Deep State””.

A favourite conspiracy of the ruling party’s, the “deep state” refers to a shadowy network of Western leaders and oligarchic figures GD insists aims to topple their government, instate loyal “agents”, and drag Georgia into conflict with Russia.

According to Kobakhidze, the $2.5bn of “actual” US aid to Georgia also doesn’t include funds channelled through the US embassy, USAID, NED, the Soros Foundation and others, entities the prime minister claimed have been used to “incite radicalism and hatred, organise revolutions, undermine the image of the Georgian Orthodox Church, encourage religious extremism, weaken state institutions, promote gender and LGBT propaganda and pursue other such goals”.

The prime minister further reminded the Trump administration that Georgia is a “regional leader” in terms of democracy, rule of law, human rights, media freedom, judicial independence, strength of state institutions, low levels of corruption and other key indicators.

Georgia’s current reality of democratic freefall, crystalising authoritarianism, mounting repression and human rights abuses, persecution of the opposition and suffocation of critical voices paints a very different picture, however.

Lastly, Kobakhidze pointed out the “striking alignment of values and ideology” in the public rhetoric of the incumbent Georgian and US governments, particularly regarding the “criminal activities of the “Deep State”, USAID, NED… the war in Ukraine, gender and LGBT propaganda and many other issues”.

“Taking all this into account — and given that your administration actively engages in dialogue and communication with numerous states, including some that are openly undemocratic and authoritarian — your silence with regard to Georgia lacks any logical explanation from our perspective,” Kobakhidze wrote.

The Georgian prime minister rounded off his lengthy letter with complaints about the US’s “completely incomprehensible sanctions” currently in place against GD government officials and the bipartisan MEGOBARI (Friendship) Act, which passed through the House of Representatives on May 7, and which mandates for more sanctions against high-ranking GD members.

In his address to Trump, who must now sign the MEGOBARI into law, Kobakhidze described the bill as “deeply hostile toward the Georgian people and the government they democratically elected” and noted that the Trump administration has not issued “a single critical statement” regarding the act.

“Nevertheless, in its public statements, our government continues to express optimism that your administration will indeed succeed in defeating the Deep State — a development that would undoubtedly lead to a reset in US-Georgia relations and the restoration of our strategic partnership,” Kobakhidze concluded.

The Prime Minister highlighted to Trump and Vance the continued risk of the “revolution scenario” in Georgia he claimed was “planned under the Biden administration”, and said “around 250 individuals — trained and funded by USAID and NED — still gather daily on the central avenue of our capital, which is undeniable evidence that the Deep State has not yet shelved its plans for revolution”.

Kobakhidze rounded off by wishing the Trump administration success in its “struggle [to] defeat the Deep State”, again highlighting that this victory would lay the foundation for a reset in bilateral relations and the restoration of the Georgia-US strategic partnership.

Reactions

In response to Kobakhidze’s letter, US Representative Joe Wilson, an out-spoken critic of the Georgian ruling party and instigator of the MEGOBARI Act, noted that the party’s “audacity in making demands to President Trump is disgraceful”.

Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, who has emerged as a rallying point for GD opponents, stated that the letter reflects the Georgian government’s “visible despair”, adding that “there is clearly a lot of nervousness in the ranks of Georgian Dream”.

Nika Gvaramia, of the opposition Coalition for Change, stated that GD poses a threat to the country, as reported by Civil.ge.

“This [open letter] is not directed at President Trump, this is a position towards the entire civilised West. These people must leave, they must go under any circumstances, by any means. Otherwise, our homeland cannot survive,” the opposition politician continued.

As reported by InterpressNews, Saakashvili noted that the letter is full of “naïve” comments, as if Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of GD and widely considered Georgia’s de-facto ruler, is “begging Trump for something through Kobakhidze”.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of the GD parliamentary majority, meanwhile, noted that he was proud that his party and country “can speak in such a bold tone”, as cited by Civil.ge.

“We are interested to know why is it that although we and the current US administration have coinciding attitudes, stances and messages… not a single word has been uttered about Georgia by the newly elected president and administration,” Mdinaradze stated, but stressed that his party was “not bowing down or begging anyone”, but speaking “loudly, boldly and in the appropriate tone”.