This article was originally published by FactCheck Georgia

This article was published for the first time on the 19th of July and explains the anti-Western rhetoric adopted by Georgian Dream, the Georgian ruling party, also naming an alleged “Global War Party”, which would control Western politics and be responsible for starting conflicts around the world. The article, in particular, fact-checks the following statement made by Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of the ruling party, on the 8th of July: “Name one false accusation or disinformation that Georgian Dream voiced against the US. No MP, no member of the government, no representative of the government has ever said that the EU, or the US is bad or anything similar. We have never blamed the US for the second front. Nor have we ever called the US a Global War Party. Give me one quote, when we called the US a global war party!”. The statement is at least misleading, as the long list of declarations here reported clearly demonstrates, while similar ones have been repeated recently by other members of Georgian Dream.

For example,  founder and honorary chairman of the ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili, in response to a US embassy statement, asserted on September 30th that neither he nor the Georgian Dream leadership has ever accused the US or the EU of financial blackmail. However, he added that the Global War Party does exert significant influence over politicians and bureaucrats in both the US and the EU.

The following day, Prime Minister Kobakhidze echoed this sentiment: “You will not find any statement where we say that [Ivanishvili’s] funds in Credit Suisse are being held by the US or the EU – even when the European Parliament resolution was used by Credit Suisse as an excuse not to transfer [Ivanishvili’s] funds, we did not say that the US and the EU are withholding these funds. We said there is a Global War Party influencing such processes. It has a significant influence on politicians and bureaucrats, unfortunately, in both the US and the EU”, the Prime Minister stated.

FactCheck Georgia collected here a list of statements that clearly prove that indeed representatives of Georgian Dream accused, with different nuances, the EU and the US of various misconducts. But before looking at the list, it’s worth trying to better understand the concept of “Global War Party” spread by Georgian Dream members.

Global War Party: what are we talking about?

It should be noted that the Georgian Dream has been talking about the power – the Global War Party – which, according to them, exerts huge influence on world politics, for the second year in a row. However, they do not explain, specifically, who they mean by the mentioned force. They claim that the Global War Party is working to weaken the state institutions in Georgia, organize a revolution, and overthrow the government in this way, in order to draw Georgia into the war and open a “second front” against Russia.

Some statements made by the members of the government and the Georgian Dream deputies directly suggest that the Global War Party is constituted by the EU (its separate institutions) and the US. In some statements, said subjects are presented as victims or being under the influence of the Global War Party.

List of examples

That being clarified, let’s look at the list of examples that clearly show that Georgian Dream members have indeed the US and the EU in their gunsight when discussing the Global War Party issue.

1. According to the statement made by Irakli Kobakhidze on June 17, 2024, the Global War Party, whose members are MEPs and US Senators, continues to blackmail Georgia, including by using the EU.
2. On May 23, 2024, the Prime Minister of Georgia once again expressed his optimism that the EU and the US will succeed in deoligarchization.
3. On May 22, 2024, Irakli Kobakhidze stated that “those who were behind other interests, the same force, the Global War Party [is behind the interests of the second front as well]”.
4. On May 13, 2024, Irakli Kobakhidze expressed hope that in the future the US and the EU will be freed from the influence of the Global War Party as much as possible.
5. On May 12, 2024, Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, in response to the question, “Who is meant by the ‘Global War Party’, said that this is such a delicate issue that talking about it publicly could create a problem for national security. However, he noted that “the EU is one of the main victims of these forces”.
6. On May 24, 2024, the leader of the parliamentary majority, Mamuka Mdinaradze, responded to the sanctions announced by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken. He accused the EU Commissioners of making threats and the US of blackmail.
7. On April 29, 2024, the honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, said that the Global War Party is using the European Parliament as an instrument and is forcing it to destroy European values with its own hands, just as it forced Georgians to destroy Georgia in 2004-2012.
8. After the reintroduction of “the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence”, Mamuka Mdinaradze, with the statement made on April 3, 2024, alleged that the former US ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, carried the interests of the Global War Party and made various accusations towards American and European foundations.
9. According to Mamuka Mdinaradze’s statement on March 13, 2024, the Global War Party influences the European Union’s actions against Georgia, including in regard to the membership candidate status.
10. According to Mamuka Mdinaradze’s statement of October 31, 2023, representatives of the local USAID organization “sin a lot” and finance revolutionary processes in Georgia.
11. Chairman of the Georgian Dream faction, Mamuka Mdinaradze, responded to the statement of the US Embassy on October 2, 2023. He demanded an answer from the USA to the question of “why they financed the violent revolutionary model and its trainings in Georgia”.
12. On November 9, 2022, then chairman of the Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced on the air of the TV Rustavi 2 that specific MEPs represent the Global War Party and have direct political interests, which they carry out on levels such as the European Parliament and Foreign Affairs Committee.
13. On the May 16, 2024, the ruling party’s radical faction – People’s Power – accused the European states of being involved in the revolutionary processes in Georgia and trying to open a “second front”, as members of the “Global War Party”, particularly naming the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Iceland.
14. A member of the ruling Georgian Dream party (and one of the leaders of the People’s Power faction), Eka Sephashvili claimed that the “Global War Party” is “an association of families that own a huge share of the leading economic, transnational organizations in the world and have representatives, as advisers, in the current US administration, as well as in the European Commission and in various countries of the European Union.”