Kaladze on today’s rally “home to Europe”: it’s UNM’s rally

Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze says that today’s rally in Tbilisi and regions named “home to Europe” is organized by the United National Movement (UNM) opposition, which is dubbed as a “radical opposition” and the “War Party” by the state authorities.

“It is the United National Movement rally. We have to call everything its name. People see everything, they understand everything. If anyone thinks that they are misleading the public with any propaganda, they are very mistaken,” Kaladze said on Monday.

He suggested that the Georgian Dream authorities had signed the Association Agreement and a visa free agreement with the EU and it “would not be difficult” for them to meet the criteria for the EU candidate status.

Today, on June 20, on the third anniversary of a rally dispersed in central Tbilisi by the government which was sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament, a civil movement “Shame” and NGOs planned a large demonstration in support of European integration, ahead of the final decision of the EU whether or not to grant Georgia a candidate status.

The European Commission recommended last week Ukraine and Moldova be granted candidate status, while Georgia only had a European perspective, which meant that the country must meet certain criteria first.

Prior to this, on June 9, the European Parliament voted on a resolution on violations of media freedom in Georgia and security challenges for journalists.

The document included a call for the imposition of targeted sanctions on former Georgian Prime Minister, a founder of the ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili.

 It claimed that Ivanishvili played a “destructive role” in Georgian politics and economy and had an influence on “politically motivated prosecution of journalists and political opponents.”