Ex-Pres Saakashvili: fining Finland’s FM ‘disgraceful stain’ on Georgia’s history

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has condemned the government’s decision to fine Finland’s Foreign Minister, Elina Valtonen, calling it a “gross violation of the Vienna Convention” and “a permanent disgrace in Georgia’s history.”

In a post on social media on Friday, Saakashvili accused the ruling authorities of “changing the genetic code of Georgians under Russian orders,” and claimed they were normalising hospitality only toward “Russian boxers, wrestlers, Kadyrov’s bandits - and soon, Russian soldiers.”

The Interior Ministry fined the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Finland’s Foreign Minister 5,000 lari for “blocking the road” during her visit to Tbilisi.