Kobakhidze Cancels Meeting With OSCE Chair, Saying She Attended ‘Illegal Rally’

Note: Valtonen later told Finnish media that she herself canceled the meeting with Kobakhidze “at the initiative of Finland, due to a schedule change.”

Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has canceled a planned meeting with Elina Valtonen, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Finnish Foreign Minister, after she attended the ongoing nightly rally on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue, the government administration reported.

“Yesterday, for participating in an illegal rally and making false statements, the Prime Minister canceled the planned meeting with the Finnish Foreign Minister,” the GD government administration said in a Facebook post on the morning of October 15.

Valtonen, who is visiting Georgia as part of her South Caucasus tour, appeared late on October 14 at an ongoing pro-EU and anti-government rally on Rustaveli Avenue, where demonstrators have gathered nightly outside Parliament for more than 320 days.

“Peaceful protestors have gathered in front of the Parliament Building in Tbilisi, Georgia, to voice their concern over the repressive direction of their country. They have every right to democracy, to freedom of expression, and basic human rights. We are here to support them,” Valtonen wrote on X, posting a video filmed from the blocked avenue.

Reacting to Valtonen’s appearance at the Rustaveli Avenue protests, Georgian Dream Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili wrote on X: “What you observe is the scene of a few dozen radicals, who stormed the presidential palace a few days ago and injured 25 police officers, two of them gravely, blocking the road, in violation of law.”

He added, “What the Finnish minister and OSCE chairperson is doing right there is a violation of Georgian legislation. It also violates Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, which, ironically, was adopted in the same city where the OSCE is headquartered.”

Earlier, Valtonen met with GD Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili. At a joint press conference, she expressed concern over the Georgian government’s growing pressure on civil society and democratic institutions, among others.

Valtonen is also scheduled to visit the occupation line today.

This post is also available in: ქართული