Ruling party Sec Gen says EU “free to open accession talks” with Georgia
In his remarks, Kaladze said the Georgian Dream party would “not allow anyone to blackmail the country with opening of the negotiations”. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said if the European Union wanted to open accession talks with Georgia, it was “free to do so”.
Kaladze’s comments came after Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday announced suspension of the country’s European Union accession talks and refusal to receive the bloc’s budget grants until 2028, citing interest in “dignified” integration amid a “cascade of insults and blackmail by European politicians and bureaucrats”.
In his remarks, Kaladze said the Georgian Dream party would “not allow anyone to blackmail the country with opening of the negotiations”.
“I am the Secretary General of the party, and also the Mayor. Do you want to open negotiations?! Open then, we are ready. Who is stopping you from doing so? But when you blackmail people with this [issue], it is categorically unacceptable”, he said.
We will not allow anyone to blackmail our country and our citizens. Everyone will have to accept the fact that Georgia is not just a territory - Georgia is a homeland, and everyone, both inside and outside the country, should respect Georgian people, our culture, traditions and past”, the party official added.
The Communications Department of the ruling party on Friday claimed Pawel Herczyński, the European Union Ambassador to the country, was “spreading disinformation” in alleging that the Georgian Government was suspending the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration process for four years.
In the statement, the Department noted the Government had emphasised it would “fully adhere to the implementation” of the Association Agreement with the EU despite the suspension of the accession process, with “90 percent” of the Agreement to be fulfilled by 2028.
The announcement of the suspension of the talks has been followed by clashes between protesters and law enforcement in Tbilisi, with 43 people detained by police between late on Thursday and Friday.