“We are grateful to Sweden, in general, for expressing interest in Georgia. However, I assure you that the concern, which is substantiated by biased information, is absolutely ungrounded and irrelevant,” said Irakli Kirtskhalia, leader of the parliamentary majority during the plenary of the spring session.

According to Kirtskhalia, Sweden awarded the Moderate Youth Party’s prize to protesters, which represents an attempt to grossly interfere with the country’s sovereignty.

“I would like to echo yet another obvious example of interference with Georgia’s internal affairs by a foreign country from ‘a series of concerns.’ For the record, several days ago, Sweden expressed concern over ongoing processes in Georgia. It was one of those 24 countries which supported the activation of Moscow’s Russian mechanism regarding alleged human rights violations in Georgia.

The ruling team has a clear viewpoint in that regard. For the last several years, we have been convinced that some institutions and organizations, which should be oriented on cooperation, are used as leverage to punish undesirable political opponents.

Despite this, due to the fact that human rights are better protected in Georgia than in the majority of countries, which initiated activation of Moscow’s Russian mechanism, we highlight that we have nothing to hide. Therefore, let the OSCE representatives arrive in Georgia and research what they want and for how long.

However, putting enacing Moscow Mechanism’s issue aside, Sweden did not stop only on initiating this mechanism, and, as we read in the media, the Moderate Youth Party of Sweden awarded this year’s prize to all participants of demonstrations in Georgia, including violent radicals, which confirms your bias towards the perpetrators and serves as another gross and unfriendly act of interference in Georgian politics,” he said.

The parliamentary majority leader noted that Sweden should better mind the resolution of challenges facing the country.

“I would like to use this opportunity and appeal to the Swedish side – Of course, in general, we are grateful that you express interest in Georgia. However, I assure you that the concern, which is substantiated by biased information, is absolutely unfounded and irrelevant. Therefore, any process which might become a reason for your concern only echoes our sovereignty and the supremacy of law.

On the other hand, Georgia, as your partner and friend country and its ruling team, indeed, has a reason for concern about the processes taking place in your country.

May you assist us and explain, like you, whether we are also misled, or does your country really have the problems and challenges that are being talked about so loudly? For instance, we are concerned that discriminatory and hate crimes have significantly increased in Sweden lately.

It is concerning that the risk of organized crime has increased in the major cities of your country, and the crime rate in Sweden has increased, in general. It is concerning that shootings by gangs and blasts have increased lately in Sweden.

We are concerned about economic stagnation in your country and the fact that the Swedish economy is facing difficulties due to high inflation, weak domestic demand, and household debt. Also concerning is that, regrettably, your citizens have to wait long to receive medical treatment. Unlike you, our expressed concerns are based on facts, statistics, and objective data.

Taking all this into account, we sincerely urge you not to waste time on expressing concerns about problems in Georgia, but mind resolution of serious and objectively concerning challenges facing our country.

In conclusion, I would like to remark that we will continue to monitor and express our increasing concerns in the future over anti-democratic processes not only in Sweden but elsewhere,” Irakli Kirtskhalia stated.