The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Finland’s Foreign Minister, Elina Valtonen, has been fined GEL 5,000 for unlawfully blocking a road on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has confirmed this report.
Valtonen attended a rally in front of the Georgian Parliament building on October 14 and subsequently posted a video message from Rustaveli Avenue on social media.
Today, Elina Valtonen, the Foreign Minister of Finland and the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, posted on the social media X, inviting Prime Minister Kobakhidze to “come to Finland, meet the free press, and observe any demonstration of your liking.”
Furthermore, the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has voiced concern regarding Valtonen’s visit, issuing a protest note to the OSCE Secretariat and participating states. In its note verbale, the Foreign Ministry states that, beyond the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO) program, Minister Elina Valtonen joined a street protest organised by a small group of anti-government activists who had been freely, though illegally, blocking the main avenue of Tbilisi on October 14. Public statements made by Minister Valtonen, which do not reflect the reality, constitute a deliberate attempt to mislead the international community regarding the situation in Georgia.
