Foreign Ministry supports public protest on Russian MPs’ visit to Georgia
Official Konstantinidi says the format of the event was unacceptable for the Foreign Ministry. Photo: Foreign Ministry press office.
Tweet 
Share
Georgian Foreign Ministry official Vladimir Konstantinidi says the Foreign Ministry agrees with the ‘fair’ public protest regarding the Russian MPs’ visit to Georgia.
He stated the Foreign Ministry permanently raises the issue of the occupation of two of the country’s regions as this is the key priority for the agency.
The Russian MPs' visit was followed by a large protest. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Konstantinidi says the format of the event was unacceptable for the Foreign Ministry.
We strictly condemn the format of the event which was held in the parliament,” he stated.
The official added that information as if one of the Georgian ambassadors has resigned in protest is not true.
Protesters holding barbed wire as Russian occupant forces installed it to separate occupied regions from the rest of Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Three Russian MPs had come to the capital of Tbilisi to participate in the 26th Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy which is being held for the first time in the country.
The event was interrupted by strong protest from the Georgian public and opposition after one of the visiting MPs addressed the audience of the assembly from the Georgian parliamentary speaker’s chair.
Russian MPs who participated in the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy held in the Georgian parliament earlier today are leaving Georgia after an incident took place when Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov took the seat of the Georgian parliamentary speaker, Tbilisi Mayor, Secretary General of the Georgian Dream ruling party Kakha Kaladze says.
Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov has claimed "radicals" in the Parliament of Georgia doused him in water and attempted to forcefully take his papers in an incident at the lawmaking body in Tbilisi on Thursday.
Russian MP Alexey Chepa, who is currently paying a visit to Georgia to attend the interparliamentary session on Orthodoxy, has denied occupation of Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) by Russia. Has also called for the return of the Soviet Union, and for the countries of the former USSR to be reunited.
Georgian opposition MPs have interrupted the 26th Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) after a Russian MP and president of the assembly, Sergey Gavrilov addressed the audience from the Georgian parliamentary speaker’s chair earlier today.
Russian Foreign Ministry has reacted to today’s incident in the Georgian parliament, when Russian MPs were forced to leave the building where they were attending the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy.
Morning of June 20 protests outside Georgian parliament
Political opposition and part of the public erupted in protest in Tbilisi on Thursday after a Russian State Duma MP took a seat of the chairman of the Parliament of Georgia for an address to the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in the capital.
The police Special Forces are trying to prevent the protesters from entering the building of the Georgian parliament in central Tbilisi. The Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia who went to the parliament said this is an attempt "to storm the state institutions" and called on the demonstrators to obey the police.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has released a statement calling the demonstrators to “immediately stop violence" in front of the parliament of Georgia and “leave the territory”. The announcement followed soon after the Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia went to the parliament, calling on the protesters to obey the police.
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has called for "calm" amid unrest in Tbilisi as protesting crowds have been dispersed by police using tear gas in front of the parliament building.
The United States Embassy in Georgia has offered its reactions to the developments in Tbilisi where protesters repeatedly clashed with police, saying the diplomatic mission closely followed the events and urged for calm.