Mayor of Tbilisi responded to the statement issued by the rapporteurs of the Council of Europe [CoE], which concerns the issue of banning parties. According to Kakha Kaladze, similar laws are in force in other European countries, however, the rapporteurs of the CoE are using double standards in relation to Georgia.

“This is a double standard. We can list the countries where parties have been banned and they would welcome this decision, even if it happened in Ukraine, Moldova, Finland, Germany, etc., which is unacceptable to them, they condemn it and say that it allegedly contradicts democratic processes. The same happened with the so-called transparency law.

These people are fighting for Georgia’s future. They wanted and failed to use this country to pursue their interests. With our policy, pragmatic steps, we did not give them the opportunity to use our country to pursue their interests and trample on the interests of the Georgian people. All their statements regarding Georgia are based solely on lies. You can see that Georgia is a leading country with steps forward, reforms, and development. Statistics also speak for themselves. But as soon as a political narrative is introduced, attacks on our statehood, insults, slander, threats, begin immediately. Fortunately, the Georgian people know very well who is fighting for our country, who is an enemy and who is a friend”, - said Kakha Kaladze.