Everybody has the right to protest but unfortunately, I have to say that we cannot really call this protest necessarily peaceful, - this is how Georgian Dream (GD)'s new Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili responded to the recent developments in Georgia in an exclusive interview with Euronews in Budapest.
Georgia's new Foreign justified the police crackdown on pro-European protesters by pointing to the actions of violent groups among the demonstrators who she alleged specifically targeted the police.
Botchorishvili emphasized that everyone has the right to protest, but that these protests must stay peaceful.
“Everybody has the right to protest but unfortunately, I have to say that we cannot really call this protest necessarily peaceful because the violent groups that were acting with the fireworks and their target was police forces and we had around 200 policemen injured and some of them really received very serious injuries. It is very hard to say that it is a peaceful protest, but on the other hand, if there is anything when we see that the police are exceeding their power, there should be a reaction from relevant bodies. If we condemn the violence, it should be condemned from both sides and not just one side”, - Botchorishvili said.
The pro-European mass protests were triggered when the ruling Georgian Dream party put Georgia's European Union integration process and its negotiations on hold until 2028.
