Tbilisi Mayor says roadblock attempts during Rustaveli Avenue protests externally funded

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday responded to the attempts by the participants of the protest rally on Rustaveli Avenue to block the road, claiming that the process was funded and encouraged from outside the country.

Speaking to journalists, Kaladze noted that anyone who was going against the law would receive an appropriate response.

“This is not the first time. They usually carry out the task, they get paid for it. You know that all this is funded from the outside, they are given instructions on how to act, but the most important thing is that anyone who goes against the law will be subject to appropriate response. You know that the law is stricter - a violator pays a fine for the first time and is sentenced to several days of detention, while repeated offenses, such as blocking a road, are considered criminal acts under the law and will be followed by a proper response”, the ruling party official said.

When asked about reports that the so-called “radical opposition” is seeking new financial and political support aimed at suspending Georgia’s visa liberalisation with the EU, Kaladze said that “unpatriotic individuals” consistently act against Georgia’s national interests.

“The opposition’s goal is to fulfill the orders that come from abroad. Everyone already knows who is who and what they represent - this opposition is an unpatriotic, foreign-funded agent network. Their main goal is to harm the Georgian people, the Georgian state, and the country’s future”, he concluded.