Tbilisi mayor to EU envoy: We need "friends, not those who wag fingers"

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has issued a sharp response to European Union Ambassador Paweł Herczyński, saying they need "friends, not those who wag fingers."

Kaladze called to summon the ambassador and ask him specific questions, Caliber.Az reports, citing Georgian media.

“Georgia has not deviated from its path; we are a democratic and sovereign country. We need friends, not masters who wag their fingers. Let them wag their finger at those they used to — where that works for them. If earlier there were veiled calls for us to participate in war, now he has come out directly and spoken about civil confrontation. With our policy, we serve the interests of the country,” Kaladze said.

The EU ambassador earlier stated that Georgia was on the wrong trajectory, arguing the country’s authorities were distancing it from the European Union.

He added that decisions taken in the coming weeks and months would determine whether “Georgia becomes part of the European family or returns to its dark past.”

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov