Georgian PM: “Certain forces” pressuring the Church over patriarchal election

Irakli Kobakhidze. Photo: imedinews.ge

On March 25, 2026, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in an interview on the program “Imedi LIVE” that an “anti-campaign” has been launched against the Georgian Orthodox Church in connection with the upcoming election of a new Catholicos-Patriarch.

The head of government stressed that the election of the Primate is strictly an internal matter of the Synod. “The process of electing the Patriarch must be independent, and everyone should entrust this to the Holy Synod, which makes the decision,” Kobakhidze said. According to him, the authorities are not interfering in this process – unlike their political opponents.

The prime minister noted that television channels and “so-called experts” have already launched a campaign that amounts to an open attack on the Church. “If anyone is trying to interfere in this process, it is precisely our opponents. They have clearly deployed a campaign – an anti-campaign – tied to the Patriarchal election, and this is, of course, an unhealthy phenomenon,” he stated. Kobakhidze called on everyone to refrain from meddling in matters that “do not concern them at all.”

He also drew attention to what he described as critics’ attitude toward the Georgian people. “All of Georgian society has rallied around this idea – respect for the Patriarch – and at the same time, you are told that these three million people are nobody,” the prime minister said. In his view, the goal of the critics is to “diminish the outstanding role of the Patriarch and his remarkable wisdom.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Georgian Church had thanked a UOC delegation for its support.

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