“It was a very disturbing statement — it was about war, about civil strife. It is very difficult to hear all this. If until now there were indirect calls to get involved in war, now there was a direct reference to civil strife, which is a threat to both the state and the Georgian people,”  Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has commented on recent remarks by EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski.

As Kaladze told media, Georgia is a sovereign state that needs partners, not external pressure.

“First of all, he should be summoned and asked specific questions that require answers. Georgia has not deviated from anything. We are a democratic, free country. If someone thinks they can force us to follow their agenda, that will not happen.

We are a sovereign state that needs friends and partners, not masters who lecture us. This will not work with us. Our policy serves only the interests of the country and the Georgian people,” Kaladze said.

The comments come after EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski said at an event at the European External Action Service in Brussels that “we must not allow Georgia and the wonderful, hospitable Georgian people to return to the dark times of violence, civil war, poverty, hardship, and corruption.”