Georgian PM says Russian occupation “fact” on question of Gov’t report missing reference

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday said Russia’s occupation of 20 percent of territories of the country was a “fact” that had “no room for speculation”, in response to a press question on why the report on the implementation of the Government’s programme had not made a reference to Russia as the occupying force.

Most topics are discussed in the report - of course, these topics will be discussed during the parliamentary discussion. The Russian Federation has occupied 20 percent of Georgia's territory, and this is a fact. So there is really no room for speculation here”, Kobakhidze said.

“We all know what the situation is, what the challenges are before us. At a time like this, when 20 percent of the country's territory is occupied and someone from outside, from the West, is trying to blackmail us, blackmail our population, blackmail our country, it is simply incomprehensible, to say the least”, he alleged in reference to the controversy around the domestic law on transparency of foreign influence.

The PM further said “the public and the country deserve a healthy attitude” in comments on the alleged blackmail.