Georgian opposition leaders address Ukraine: PM Garibashvili is not Georgia, we are ashamed

Nika Melia appologized for Garibashvili

Nika Melia, chairman of the opposition United National Movement political party, on behalf of the Georgian people apologized to the Ukrainians for the statements of the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

On February 25, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that Ukraine could not avoid war and that Georgia would not join sanctions imposed on Russia by the West.

“Dear Ukrainians, know that Georgia is not Irakli Garibashvili and (leader of the ruling party) Bidzina Ivanishvili. Georgia is thousands of young people who filled the streets of Tbilisi yesterday. An ordinary Georgian is one who crying in front of their TV screen and is ready to give their last penny to help their Ukrainian brothers and sisters.

If for someone in Ukraine Georgia is defined by Irakli Garibashvili and Bidzina Ivanishvili, we are ashamed and we apologize for this”, Nika Melia said at a special briefing.

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Irakli Garibashvili said that “he has his own business, the parliament has its own, and the war in Ukraine is ongoing”. He added that his visit to Ukraine “will not change anything” and he had no plans of going.

“There is a war going on, and, unfortunately, this war is not going on somewhere [far] to talk about it so indifferently, this is the most unworthy position that a person from Georgia can take. Especially since the leader of the Georgian people, the friend of the Ukrainian people, the hero of the heroic people, can talk about this.

I am ashamed of this and I ask for forgiveness from my dear Ukrainian friends, sisters and brothers, I ask for forgiveness from the soldiers who are now at the front lines, I ask for forgiveness from the members of Georgian families whose names are engraved on the Memorial of Heroes, I ask for forgiveness from Georgian soldiers”, Nika Melia said.

“We are very sorry that the government of our country has not joined the sanctions that the civilized world is joining. But instead of imposing sanctions, the Georgian people give you their souls and hearts in your struggle. The Georgian people are with you”, Nika Melia addressed the Ukrainians.

Yesterday, the ruling Georgian Dream party announced that it would not participate in an extraordinary meeting convened by the president at the request of the opposition in Ukraine. Today, representatives of the ruling party did not appear in parliament at all. An MP from the ruling party, Givi Mikanadze, called the convocation of an extraordinary meeting ” a show staged by the opposition”.

41 opposition deputies appealed to the president with a request to convene an extraordinary meeting amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to them, the silence of the Georgian government will cost Georgia dearly. The opposition demanded that the authorities adopt a new resolution, the opposition demand was satisfied by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili.

On the morning of February 24, 2022, Russia began bombing Ukraine. Under the pretext of protecting the separatist regions of Donbass and Lugansk, President Putin announced the beginning of a “military operation” in Ukraine.

Shortly after this announcement, the bombing of strategic facilities in the suburbs of Ukrainian cities, including Kiev, began.