Georgian PM: We must defy externally imposed trends; our laws and new police department serve this exact purpose

“We must do everything in our power to defy trends that are being externally imposed upon us,” the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, has declared.

According to him, this is precisely why a dedicated department was established within the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

“The Strasbourg ruling is absolutely sound. The principle is simple: hatred and aggression must not be given free rein in any society. The European Court of Human Rights’ decision is anchored in exactly this approach, as is the legislation we recently enacted. As you know, hatred and aggression are being forced upon us from outside the country, phenomena that are entirely alien to Georgian society. Consequently, we must do everything possible to resist these externally imposed trends. This is what our laws serve, and this is why a dedicated department was set up within the MIA. Active operations in this direction must resolutely continue,” the Prime Minister noted.

For context, the European Court of Human Rights recently ruled that imposing a prison sentence for disseminating defamatory statements on a personal blog does not violate the right to freedom of expression.