Estonian Foreign Ministry calls attacks on Gakharia and Zurabishvili outrageous and despicable

The Estonian Foreign Ministry has condemned the attacks on Georgia's fifth president Salome Zurabishvili and the country's former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia, calling for punishment of the perpetrators.

“Outrageous and despicable attacks in Georgia against President Salome Zurabishvili and former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. Estonia calls on Georgia's ruling party to immediately stop these attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice,” the Estonian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on social network X.

On February 18, Salome Zurabishvili was egged and insulted at Tbilisi International Airport. A day earlier, on February 17, a similar incident occurred with Giorgi Gakharia. Both politicians were returning to Georgia from Germany after participating in the Munich Security Conference.

The attack on Zurabishvili by associates of the ruling Georgian Dream had actually been announced in advance. Commenting on the Gakharia incident, Natia Beridze, host of the pro-government PosTV TV channel, advised Zurabishvili to prepare. “It's your turn now, sister. When you fly in, put on a raincoat, otherwise the smell of eggs will bother you for a long time,” Beridze wrote on her Facebook page.

Representatives of the Georgian Dream condemned the violence, but blamed the opposition politicians themselves for the incident. The ruling party believes that through their actions they have encouraged the violence over the years.

Some foreign diplomats and politicians, on the contrary, expressed solidarity with Gakharia and Zurabishvili, but blamed the Georgian Dream.

Zurabishvili herself called the facts “organized violence” that shows the weakness of the Georgian Dream. She reported that she has “filed a complaint”. The Georgian Interior Ministry has not yet informed about the start of the case.

Reprinted from https://www.newsgeorgia.ge/