EU representative in Georgia condemns appeals for violence
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, November 5
The head of the European Union’s (EU) representation in Georgia, Janos Herman, has stated he was concerned by the recently leaked audio recordings revealing the conversations of Georgia’s ex-President Mikheil Saakahsvili with various opposition and media figures and concerning an alleged coup in Georgia.
“Notwithstanding the questions about how they were made public, I would like to underline that we consider calls for violence unacceptable, no matter from where and whom they come from,” Herman said.
He added that the EU strongly supported further dialogue with respect to the rule of law as well as political and media pluralism in Georgia.
“Consequently, I welcome the recent statements by the Prime Minister and the President of Georgia and I commend also the calls for calm and restraint made by numerous political actors, including the opposition, as well as civil society and representatives of the media.
“We are ready to stay in contact with all of them as the EU continues to closely follow the matter,” Herman stressed.
The audio recordings released on a Ukrainian webpage revealed that Saakashvili urged the opposition United National Movement (UNM) members and the Rustavi 2 leadership to stage a revolution and cause unrest in the country, using the ongoing legal dispute between the current and former shareholders of Rustavi 2 as a pretext.
Mikheil Saakashvili and Rustavi 2 Director’s Nika Gvaramia have already confirmed that parts of the recordings were authentic.
Georgia’s law-enforcement authorities are investigating the case. They also asked the Ukrainian leadership for help in investigation, as the recordings were released on a Ukrainian video portal.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili also appealed to his Ukrainian counterpart to react to the incident. However, Kiev has yet to respond.
