Georgian PM: police “acted with standard higher than American, European” at protest rally

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Sunday said law enforcement had acted “with a standard higher than American and European standards” at yesterday’s protest rally in the capital Tbilisi held against the Government’s recent decision on the suspension of the country’s European Union accession talks until 2028.

Speaking at a press conference, Kobakhidze denounced “any kind of violence” and stressed “violence against media is unacceptable in any direction”.

Any violence is categorically unacceptable and violence against media representatives is even more inadmissible, exceptionally inadmissible, this is my very clear position”, the PM pointed out.

He also said law enforcement officers “do not react [to protest rally participants] at all until the violent groups turn to blatant systemic violence, consequently, these gatherings are not peaceful” and highlighted the violent groups’ actions using “pyrotechnics, a serious dangerous weapon, which they used against the police, not to say anything about throwing stones and other heavy objects”.

The head of the Government thanked the country’s Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri and “each” law enforcement officer for “successfully safeguarding the state from another attempt to disrupt the constitutional order“, despite the “hardest systemic violence perpetrated by violent groups yesterday”.