{"id":2131,"date":"2025-08-27T10:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T10:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=2131"},"modified":"2025-08-29T13:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T13:47:12","slug":"eu-used-direct-threats-blackmail-to-polarize-georgia-tbilisi-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/27\/eu-used-direct-threats-blackmail-to-polarize-georgia-tbilisi-mayor\/","title":{"rendered":"EU used \u2018direct threats, blackmail\u2019 to polarize Georgia \u2013\u00a0Tbilisi mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels is punishing the country for refusing to fight Russia for Ukraine, Kakha Kaladze has said<\/strong><\/p>\n

European Union officials are spreading \u201clies, slander and misinformation\u201d<\/em> to put pressure on Georgia, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze asserted on Monday. The bloc had failed before in trying to draw the country into war with Russia using the same approach, he noted.<\/p>\n

Kaladze, a former professional footballer who is now running for re-election as the ruling Georgian Dream party\u2019s candidate, made the comments during a press conference after being pressed by opposition journalists about deteriorating ties with Brussels.<\/p>\n

\u201cDirect threats, blackmail and insults were directed to the prime minister\u2019s office to launch a second front,\u201d<\/em> Kaladze said. \u201cPromises were made: \u2018we will help, you will be provided with everything, with appropriate equipment,\u2019 etc.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Georgia has sought EU membership, but relations soured after the bloc accused the government of backsliding on democratic reforms. Kaladze rejected the criticism, insisting that the country’s progress towards meeting the requirements for candidacy is being ignored for political reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201dAs soon as a political narrative is introduced by some European bureaucrats, an unfair assessment immediately occurs. In general, their assessments are based on lies, slander, and misinformation,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"A
US changes stance on 2008 Russia-Georgia war<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The EU\u00a0supports\u00a0Georgia’s pro-Western\u00a0opposition parties, which launched mass protests over alleged election fraud last year, and threatened to revoke visa-free travel. Kaladze, who is also the ruling party\u2019s secretary general, repeated claims that the criticism stems from Georgia standing up to Western pressure and maintaining neutrality in the Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n

Introducing sanctions or fighting Russia militarily would have been ruinous and no responsible government could have taken that path, he said.<\/p>\n

Georgia and Russia fought a brief armed conflict in 2008 after then-President Mikhail Saakashvili launched an assault on South Ossetia, where Russian peacekeepers were stationed. Moscow quickly repelled the troops and later recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Tbilisi, however, still claims sovereignty over the territories.<\/p>\n

The current government has blamed Saakashvili for the clash, accusing him of betraying national interests under foreign influence. The conflict broke out months after NATO pledged eventual membership for Georgia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brussels is punishing the country for refusing to fight Russia for Ukraine, Kakha Kaladze has said European Union officials are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2131"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2135,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions\/2135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}