Month: January 2026

Leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party stressed Christian identity, peace, sovereignty, and struggles against external “pressure” in their New Year’s addresses that follow Georgia’s turbulent year marked by repression and resistance, anti-Western drift, and internal party battles.

In their introductory remarks, Georgian Dream leaders, including billionaire founder and honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, GD-elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili, and Speaker of the disputed parliament Shalva Papuashvili, addressed fellow citizens and Georgians living abroad, in remarks delivered weeks after Georgian Dream stripped emigrants of their right to vote outside the country. GD officials also addressed their “Abkhazian and Ossetian sisters and brothers.”

While Kobakhidze, Papuashvili, and Kavelashvili focused on sovereignty, national identity, and Christianity in their holiday wishes, Ivanishvili devoted much of his written address to fighting a “global evil force” that he claimed seeks to dominate the world.

In a separate address, Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, who marked the New Year alongside protesters outside parliament, said she would not regret the end of 2025, instead lauding the “resolve and perseverance” of the Georgian people and focusing on projecting a “Georgia of tomorrow.”

Ivanishvili Speaks About Repelling ‘Global, Evil Force’

In the written New Year’s address published by Georgian Dream’s Facebook page on December 31, Ivanishvili and his spouse, Ekaterine Khvedelidze, wished Georgians “a year of peace, unity, and success” for their families and Georgia.

“The past year was filled with challenges and difficulties. Society could clearly see how a global, evil force was fighting against Georgia – a force with an unhealthy ambition for world governance,” the address read. “We all saw together this open, obvious, and unequal confrontation against Georgia’s sovereignty and unity, a confrontation against the Georgian people both from within the country and from abroad.”

Despite the “hardest” challenges, the letter reads, in 2025, “we properly responded to every challenge with the reason of the Georgian people and the balanced, calm, and pragmatic politics of our political team, we faced every external blow with dignity and did not take a single step back in the fight for our homeland, our people, and Georgia’s sovereignty.”

“There is simply no turning back! We have no choice! We are obligated before our homeland, nation, and ancestors to defend every value, to uphold every principle that has carried our centuries-old nation proudly to the present day!” – the letter noted, warning against “illusions” that Ivanishvili himself or GD’s political team “will get tired in this unequal battle.” According to the address, the main thing is “that our people, just as before, will clearly distinguish in 2026 who is an enemy of Georgia and who is a friend!” The letter then expressed pride that in Georgia, a society emerged which is impossible “to deceive and manipulate with emotions.”

“Personally, as one ordinary soldier of my homeland, together with my political team, I will continue to stand guard over our country and our families in 2026 as well,” the address concluded.

Kobakhidze Hails ‘Reinforced’ Peace and Sovereignty

Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze spoke in his New Year’s address about bringing more peace and sovereignty to Georgia in 2025, while sending his holiday wishes to “teachers, doctors, artists, civil servants, soldiers, police officers, judges, prosecutors, representatives of security structures, entrepreneurs, farmers, agricultural workers, workers, representatives of all professions.”

“2025 was a year full of difficulties, but, at the same time, a successful one for our country,” Kobakhidze said in his two-minute video address. “Over the past year, we further reinforced peace in Georgia, reinforced Georgia’s independence and sovereignty, strengthened the Georgian economy, which, for the first time in history, surpassed [GEL] 100 billion.”

Kobakhidze further noted that 2025 “was also a turning point in terms of refining the state governance system and reinforcing the rule of law,” adding that “the foundation laid in 2025 creates a solid precondition for the coming year to be even more successful for Georgia.”

GD PM said that 2026 will be special for Georgia as it will mark the 1700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as a state religion. “Christianity is one of the main pillars of Georgian identity, defining not only our faith, but also culture,” Kobakhidze said, sending his best wishes to Orthodox Church Patriarch Ilia II.

“Faithfulness to Christianity, the protection of God and the Holy Mother of God, has given us the ability, despite many upheavals over the centuries, to preserve our statehood and national identity,” he noted, adding that “all of this strengthens our belief that the Georgian dream of a united Georgia will one day definitely come true.”

Kavelashvili: Farewell to Year of ‘Trial and Spiritual Strength’

Georgian Dream-elected president Mikheil Kavelashvili described in his video-address the past year as a year “of trial and spiritual strength,” noting Georgians “demonstrated a characteristic unique nature and firmness, withstood unseen pressure, and defended the country’s sovereignty and national interest, which means the preservation of our identity, faith, and traditions.”

“I want to especially congratulate and thank the Georgian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Georgian Cathalicos-Patriarch, the spiritual pillar of our people, the guardian of faith, morals, and national unity,” Kavelashvili said, adding: “I congratulate the representatives of all confessions, the faithful children of our country.”

Papuashvili – Withstanding Decisive Pressure

In his video address recorded at Bodbe Monastery in Kakheti region, GD Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili described 2025 as a “year which clearly defined Georgia’s state choice and national priorities.”

“Over the past year, our country withstood the decisive pressure, through which it was attempted to suppress Georgia’s sovereign rights, to influence the will of Georgian people and to subordinate us to the plans of others,” Papuashvili said, noting that last year, Georgia “said a firm no to take part in the plots of others and to gambling with the country’s future.”

Papuashvili also spoke about Georgia marking “1700th anniversary of Georgia becoming Christian,” which, he said, “underscores once again our historical continuity, spiritual axis, and civilizational role.”

“This year, we must gradually, steadily, and consciously begin a new stage of building,” Papuashvili said, noting the building must be based “on our historical heritage while at the same time ensuring a clear articulation of a modern, era‑appropriate national identity.”

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Salome Zurabishvili: Won’t Be Missing 2025

Sending her holiday wishes in a video address, Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s fifth president, said that 2025 ends so that “we won’t be regretting much that it’s leaving,” noting that she won’t take much time recounting a year where “much happened that is shameful for all of us.”

She chose to focus on 2026, saying she believes in the coming year, because, over the past year, “I saw your resolve, your perseverance.” According to Zurabishvili, this concerns “prisoners of conscience,” the perseverance of their parents, as well as the resolve of “the country in general.”

“And I saw Georgia of tomorrow, which won’t be putting up with becoming Russia, or becoming like Russia, or some small Russian colony. I saw Georgia, which, tomorrow, will be building a new country.”

The Georgia of tomorrow, she went on, would be the country where young people will be able to receive “real education,” instead of having to leave the country. “We are prepared for this regime to leave peacefully, to bid farewell just like this year will be bidding farewell.”

“I am convinced that there is unity in the country. It may not be evident, we may still be criticising each other, but somewhere there still is that Georgian spirit, that unity, that drive for survival, which has carried us till today and will be taking us far,” Zurabishvili concluded.

Also Read:

• 02/01/2025 – GD Leaders New Year Addresses: After 2024 “Victory,” 2025 of Unity, Family, Traditions

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