Georgian PM: United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on two leading Georgian broadcasters, marking unprecedented example of open attack on free media

Commenting on the recent sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom on two leading Georgian broadcasters, Georgian prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the move represents an unprecedented attack on free media.

Speaking to reporters after a political council meeting of the ruling Georgian Dream party, he described the official reasoning behind the sanctions as both tragic and, in a sense, comical.

“The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on two leading Georgian broadcasters, marking an unprecedented example of an open attack on free media. This fact is, on one hand, tragic, and on the other, comical, given the official reason used as a pretext for the sanctions”, the PM said.

“Naturally, the real motive behind the attack on the free Georgian media was to give a slight chance of maintaining a pulse for the discredited, half-dead opposition. For our country’s foreign ill-wishers, this necessity remains a sharp priority on the agenda. They see that on one side stands the Georgian Dream, which serves the Georgian people and has twice received a firm mandate of trust over the past two years. On the other side stands the radical opposition - foreign agents in the service of external forces - who care nothing for the Georgian people’s legitimacy and are concerned with nothing but their failure to fulfill the tasks set by their foreign patrons”, he concluded.