Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze Ready to Assist Investigation into 'Threat' from European Commissioner
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that he is ready to provide information to any country interested in investigating the "threat" he received from a European Commissioner that mentioned the name of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was recently the target of an attempted assassination.
When asked if he would take responsibility for the potential consequences of visa liberalization, Kobakhidze responded that the authorities had received multiple "threats", including one about sharing the fate of the Slovak Prime Minister.
"Over the past few days, we have been threatened with many things, including sharing the fate of the Slovak Prime Minister, who was shot a few weeks ago," Kobakhidze said.
When a journalist mentioned that European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi had provided a clarification about the incident, Kobakhidze remarked that "this clarification was a disaster."
In response to another question about whether he feared for his life, Kobakhidze stated: "No way. I was not afraid of anything. But I said what we were threatened with - sharing the fate of the Slovak Prime Minister. We were directly threatened to share the fate of Fico."
Kobakhidze reiterated his willingness to cooperate with any interested country's investigation.
"If any country has an interest in this regard, I am ready to provide information and evidence to the investigation. Pay attention to what I say again: when it comes to the threat, where the name of the Slovak Prime Minister was mentioned, if there is any interest from any country, I am ready to give relevant information and evidence to the investigation," Kobakhidze stated.
European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi responded to Kobakhidze's accusation, stating that his telephone conversation had been taken out of context and completely misinterpreted.
