After Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, several members of the Georgian Dream party, including Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, also made statements offering their condolences to the families of the 5 Georgian fighters who were killed while fighting near the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on 3 December.
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“In the last few days, 6 Georgians lost their lives due to Russia’s aggressive war. 33 Georgians have already died in this war and this is, of course, a great loss for our country. I want to offer my condolences to the families of the deceased, their relatives, and Georgia as a whole,” Speaker Papuashvili underscored.
Kakha Kaladze, the party’s General Secretary and the Mayor of Tbilisi stated, “I offer my condolences to the families of the deceased, their loved ones, relatives, all of Georgia! Of course, the death of every Georgian, wherever they are, is very hard… I want to wish peace for Georgia, I wish peace for Ukraine and Ukrainians.”
Gia Volski, another GD member and the First Deputy Chairperson of Parliament, also offered his condolences but differed from his colleagues in that he criticized political opponents for turning the matter into a political issue.
“Against the background of this mourning, the mourners around the deceased […] see this shameful political speculation, which somehow binds me personally, my friends, and team members, to continue talking about this topic and to confront the other side, which is behaving immorally, in a political aspect,” he claimed.
“I can’t say that there is no sincere mourning, but in reality, we can see that raising this subject […] from a political point of view is not being removed from the agenda,” MP Volski added.
Meanwhile, Archil Talakvadze stated, “I would like to once again pay tribute to the soldiers who died in the fight for freedom and pay tribute to everyone, including the civilians who, unfortunately, fell in this war, who sacrificed their lives in the fight for freedom in Ukraine…”
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