Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has strongly criticised the European Union’s stance on Georgia, calling the potential suspension of visa liberalisation and the conditions set for the country’s EU path “an attempt to punish the Georgian people.”

Speaking to journalists, Kaladze dismissed recent EU statements as disingenuous, claiming they serve foreign interests rather than the welfare of Georgia.

“This is simply an attempt to punish the Georgian people. Don’t think they have any good interests regarding Georgia… It’s a very big lie, a falsehood,” he said.

“If they were truly real friends, they wouldn’t call on the country to join sanctions, wouldn’t pass resolutions about this, and there wouldn’t be blackmail of the Prime Minister and party chairman in offices regarding opening a second front.”

Kaladze suggested that larger powers are acting in their own interest, and reiterated his support for what he called Georgia’s “pragmatic politics” under the ruling Georgian Dream party.

“They have their own interests… but we have sense. We must not allow anyone to use our small country for some big country’s interests.”

His comments come amid rising tensions between the Georgian government and European institutions over Georgia’s political trajectory and alignment with EU foreign policy expectations.