The Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, delivered a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest.
Below is his speech as delivered:
“It is a great honor to stand before you today – here in Hungary, a country that has stood tall in defense of its sovereignty and identity.
Everybody should praise distinguished Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr. Viktor Orban for his brave and uncompromised fight for Hungary’s freedom and national interests. We – Georgians – are particularly praising him for his invaluable support to Georgia and our nation’s European path. Thank you for this, Mr. Orban!
I bring you the voice of Georgia – a country that has stood firm at the crossroads of empires for over 3000 years; a country that became one of the first Christian nations in the world. Georgia’s soul has been tested by many wars and centuries of occupation. And yet, we remain unbroken. We remain Georgian.
We are proud of our Christianity, and we do our best to protect it. Because we know: when a nation loses its national identity and faith, it loses itself.
Today, the West is at a crossroads. Not just the political West, but the civilizational West – the West of Christian and democratic values. We are gathered here to defend our identity, and our God-given right to be who we are. We are not in the position to be in conflict with the West, since we are part of the West – the real West. The West of freedom, faith and family values; not that of the Deep State who wants to turn the world into nothing and feel entitled to rule over everything. The true, value-based West – our West – is still alive. It is alive in the countries like Hungary. And it lives in the hearts of millions across Europe and beyond who are tired of being told that loving their homeland is a crime.
We are a European nation. Our history, our culture, our identity – they are all European. But the European bureaucracy must recognize our right to sovereignty and democracy. Being pro-European should not mean being anti-Georgian. We believe in a Europe of nations with strong identity, and we proudly stand with those – in Hungary and beyond – who still hold that patriotism is a virtue, not a vice.
Our commitment to European integration remains strong, but we will not sacrifice our dignity or sovereignty. We will not accept double standards, nor will we trade our identity for political favor.
In this increasingly turbulent world, we are seeing something deeply disturbing: The rise of what we call liberal fascism – an aggressive and intolerant foreign-funded ideology and movement designed to weaken state and social institutions, fuel hatred in our societies, promote gender and LGBT propaganda, and dismantle the core foundations of our societies. It claims to defend rights, but tramples on the right of nations to chart their own development. It preaches tolerance but tries to silence dissent.
Over the past three years, the world has witnessed an awful tragedy in Ukraine. From the earliest days, our government warned the international community about the consequences. Sadly, those warnings were ignored. We, in Georgia, understand the price of war. Respectively, we know the value of peace. That is why since 2012, we have done everything to keep peace in our country.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we have resisted enormous pressure – both external and internal – from those who would see Georgia once again become a battlefield. We have chosen a different path. We have chosen peace over war, and stability over instability. Our government will always stand on the side of peace. But peace is always vulnerable, if it is not protected by truth. For years, powerful international media outlets have launched coordinated attacks on Georgia. In fact, their false narratives are designed to punish Georgia for refusing to be dragged into war, for choosing sovereignty, and for putting our national interest first.
For years, Georgia has faced campaigns of manipulation by foreign-funded NGOs and media outlets that do not promote progress, but seek to reshape our values. When Georgia recently introduced measures to protect our sovereignty and ensure NGO transparency, we were met with threats and sanctions, just because we dared to say: “Lets protect Georgia, and let Georgia decide.”
All of the above-mentioned worrisome developments – breach of world peace, interference in the internal affairs of other countries, struggle against their national and religious identity, gender and LGBT propaganda, attempts to undermine family values, global violation of the media freedom and censorship, liberal fascism – are being coordinated from a single center. We have been calling this center the Global War Party since 2022, while the new US Administration calls it the Deep State.
We are happy that US President Trump and his administration have announced a fight against the Deep State. The infamous foreign intervention tools such as USAID and NED, through which the Deep State attempted to stage four revolutions in Georgia over the past four years, have been abolished.
The new Administration’s statements and specific steps are encouraging. However, this is not enough. It seems that the Deep State is still deeply rooted in the American and European bureaucracy, which is clearly evident from the specific steps taken against Georgia. A clear example of this was the 6 unjust resolutions adopted by the European Parliament against the Georgian people, as well as the so-called Friend Act recently adopted by the US House of Representatives, which is no less unjust and represents an attack on the Georgian people.
I hope that President Trump will successfully weaken the Deep State, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the healing of both Georgia-US and Georgia-EU relations. We wish the new administration success in this fight.
Finally, I would like to extend my best wishes to all leaders around the world who are standing firm against radical left liberalism and the influence of the Deep State – those who continue to defend national sovereignty, traditional values, and the will of their people" , - Kobakhidze said.
