The ruling party of Georgia, "Georgian Dream," has officially left the "Party of European Socialists" (PES). Chairman of the ruling party, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced this at a briefing on May 11.

"From today, the "Georgian Dream" will cooperate with all European parties on equal grounds to achieve the foreign political goals we have set for our country, society, and government... It is true that fewer MEPs from the "European Socialists" supported the relevant resolutions, but you know very well how this was "sold" in the Georgian society – it was much harder when a third of them supported the resolution against us than when the EPP came out against us with its entire composition, because "National Movement" and "European Georgia" are members of EPP," argued Irakli Kobakhidze.

He also noted that "Georgian Dream" has been an observer member of the "Party of European Socialists" since 2015. This political group unites the socialist, social-democratic, and labor parties of the EU member states.

This decision of the "Georgian Dream" was preceded by the visit of the Prime Minister of Georgia to Budapest, due to which the ruling party received criticism. In his speech, Garibashvili argued that hostile forces in Georgia were "trying to destroy family values" and that he would protect the conservative majority from “minority violence.”

Kobakhidze added: "We needed particular support from the "European Socialist Party" on the way to the candidate status. This support was not provided by them. At such a time, when the political party does not properly support our country's efforts on the way to the candidate status, it certainly prevents the candidate status. acceptance. That is why it was counterproductive. I want to emphasize that their attitude was also unacceptable to us. We have never had a problem with two-way communication. There are specific officials in the "Socialist Party of Europe" with whom I and another representative of my team had daily communication, including through messages. They could very easily state their position on a particular topic. However, there was no two-way communication. We publicly heard a statement regarding the fact that the participation of the "Georgian Dream" in a specific conference was unacceptable for them, and then the second statement. It was surprising that the vice-president of the "Socialist Party of Europe" joined Kezerashvili's TV, the TV of the robber of European pensioners, and from there, he voices the message that our specific actions are incompatible with membership in this political family."