Paris “supports the country’s European aspirations” and is outraged by the threats against the president

THE “threats of imprisonment” of the President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili by the government party Georgian Dream are “unacceptable and incompatible with any European perspective”denounced Friday on X the French Minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad. In his message published two days before the contested inauguration of a loyal member of the ruling party as president, Mikheïl Kavelashvili, the minister also believes that “violence and intimidation against demonstrators must stop”. “France supports European aspirations”he adds.

Mikheïl Kavelashvili, known for his ultraconservative and anti-Western positions, was designated as the new president on December 14 by an electoral college controlled by the Georgian Dream. The current occupant of the post, Salomé Zourabichvili, a former French diplomat at odds with the government and who supports demonstrators in favor of joining the EU, announced that she would refuse to surrender her mandate. “There is only one formula to resolve such a crisis, a formula universally recognized in all democratic countries: new elections”she assured the demonstrators on Sunday, after declaring the October legislative elections “illegitimate”.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze assured that a refusal of the current president to leave the presidential palace “would constitute a criminal offense punishable by many years of imprisonment”including for “anyone involved in such a scenario”and ruled out the organization of new elections.