Mayor Kaladze: We must do everything to restore territorial integrity through peaceful means, not war

“Through our actions and policies, we must spare no effort to foster peaceful coexistence with the Abkhazians and Ossetians and achieve the restoration of our country’s territorial integrity, not through war, but through peaceful means, a robust economy, a strengthened state, and national renewal,” Mayor of Tbilisi Kakha Kaladze declared.

As the capital’s Mayor noted, an anti-Georgian campaign has been underway for several weeks, with its orchestrators acting on specific instructions.

“We are well aware of these individuals’ attitude towards the Georgian state and the Georgian people. They are outright enemies of our country. We have been convinced of this time and again, not merely by their statements, but by concrete facts. What they inflicted upon our state and the Georgian people in 2008 through their filthy politics constitutes a grave crime. Recall their reaction during the parliamentary elections when our party founder made a reconciliation statement; look at the statements they issued at the time. They are enemies of the state. Now, too, an anti-Georgian campaign has been running for weeks; they are carrying out explicit orders.

Consider Baramidze’s statement, which insulted our Georgian soldiers so profoundly and levelled extremely serious allegations against them; or Gvaramia’s statement regarding territorial integrity, drawing parallels with Karabakh and so forth. These individuals view Abkhazia and the occupied territories in general as a mere ‘trauma’. Naturally, this is deeply painful for our country and our people. For anyone who loves our country and the Georgian people, territorial integrity remains the paramount value and priority. Through the steps we take and the policies we pursue, we must do everything possible to achieve coexistence with Abkhazians and Ossetians and restore our country’s territorial integrity, not through war, but via peaceful avenues, economic strength, national fortification, and reconstruction,” Kakha Kaladze stated.

For context, former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili wrote on social media: “Anyone who thinks the path to restoring control over Abkhazia relies solely on winning over at most 50,000 Abkhazians has mush in their head instead of thoughts.”