Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of Georgian Dream, stated that the Georgian government does not require the legitimacy of French President Emmanuel Macron.
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Mdinaradze responded to a journalist’s question regarding Macron’s phone call to Bidzina Ivanishvili, Honorary Chairman of the Georgian Dream.
"Who is asking Macron to grant legitimacy to the Georgian government? International legitimacy comes from the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission, which stated that competitive elections were held, period. It's over. What are you talking about now? There was no one there at all, and he called a citizen? He called the honorary chairman of the ruling party, the party that won the elections. Isn't that legitimacy? How is it not? Why should it be legitimacy? What do we need Macron's legitimacy for? Man, don't turn me away. He can't even blame his own Prime Minister for what he called the party about; he got a party response," Mdinaradze said.
On December 11, it was revealed that, at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, a telephone conversation took place between him and Bidzina Ivanishvili, Honorary Chairman of the Georgian Dream, which lasted an hour.
The communication was initially released by Bidzina Ivanishvili’s party, but the statement did not mention that the French president condemned the intimidation of civil society and opposition representatives, demanded the release of all arbitrarily detained individuals, and called for respect for freedom of expression and assembly. In addition, Macron expressed regret that Georgia had deviated from its European trajectory and urged an inclusive dialogue with all political groups and civil society representatives. According to a later statement released by Georgian Dream, Ivanishvili explained to Macron that Georgia is a state governed by the rule of law and that the police “acted to a higher standard than European standards” during the protests.
On December 13, Emmanuel Macron released a video saying, “The European aspirations of the Georgian people, enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia, cannot be betrayed.”
Of the 27 EU member states, only Hungary congratulated the Georgian Dream on its election victory.
