Georgia’s Interior Ministry has fined Finnish Foreign Minister and current OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Elina Valtonen GEL 5,000 (about USD 1,800) for “blocking the road” during a protest rally she attended on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue on October 14, while the Foreign Ministry has sent a protest note to the OSCE regarding the incident and Valtonen’s statement.
The Interior Ministry confirmed to Civil.ge on October 16 that it had fined Finnish FM Elina Valtonen, who, in her capacity as OSCE Chair during her recent visit to Georgia, appeared at a routine anti-government and pro-EU rally on Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue near Parliament and expressed support for peaceful protesters who have been blocking the street to traffic nightly for more than 320 days.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to the OSCE Secretariat and participating states over Valtonen’s presence at the rally and her statements supporting peaceful protesters, saying her actions were “incompatible with the universally recognized principles of international law.”
The Foreign Ministry said in its protest note that Finnish Foreign Minister and OSCE Chair Elina Valtonen went beyond her official program during the visit when she “joined on October 14 a street rally organized by a small group of anti-government activists who were freely but illegally blocking Tbilisi’s main avenue.”
“The public statement made by Minister Valtonen, which does not reflect reality, represents a deliberate attempt to mislead the international community about the situation in Georgia,” the Ministry added.
“These actions contradict the spirit of cooperation within the OSCE and may be considered an abuse of the Chairperson’s mandate, undermining trust and the expected neutrality.”
The Ministry further claimed that Valtonen’s actions are “incompatible with the universally recognized principles of international law, including respect for sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs, as reflected in the Helsinki Final Act, the UN Resolution A/RES/20/213, and the OSCE rules and procedures, and they run counter to the spirit of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
On October 14, Elina Valtonen appeared at the protest site near Parliament, met with demonstrators, and recorded a video from the blocked Rustaveli Avenue, saying, “These people are concerned about the direction that this country has been taking, taking away the basic liberties of people, starting with the freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly. Needless to say, these people deserve all of these rights, and we are here to support them.”
During her stay in Georgia, Valtonen met with Georgian Dream Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili, as well as the civil society representatives, and visited the occupation line. The planned meeting with GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, however, was cancelled. While the Georgian government claimed that Kobakhidze cancelled the meeting because the Finnish Foreign Minister attended an “illegal rally” and made “false statements,” Valtonen told media it was the Finnish side, not Georgian, that canceled the meeting first due to a “schedule change.”
Before the announcement of the fine for “blocking the road” and the protest note, Elina Valtonen, earlier in the afternoon on October 16, addressed Kobakhidze in a post on X, inviting him to Finland to observe “any demonstration” of his choosing.
Note: Quotes from the Foreign Ministry’s protest note are based on the Georgian-language version.
Also Read:
- 14/10/2025 – CSOs: Georgian Dream Toughening Laws to ‘Ban Peaceful Protest’
- 07/10/2025 – Kobakhidze Offers Reset With West, Threatens to End Rustaveli Protests
- 12/06/2025 – Salome Zurabishvili Fined for “Blocking Road”
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