The key facts

  • Irakli Kobakhidze said that the EU-funded European Endowment for Democracy sponsored riots in Tbilisi
  • He had earlier accused the European Union of encouraging protesters who threw Molotov cocktails
  • He cited the case of Lazar Grigoriadis, who was pardoned after a nine-year sentence

Accusations against a European foundation

Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), funded by the European Union, sponsored riots involving the use of Molotov cocktails during anti-government protests in Tbilisi. His remarks were reported by RIA Novosti, Gazeta.Ru reported on the statement.

The prime minister's arguments and the Grigoriadis case

“European bureaucracy demands the release of offenders. This in itself shows that it was the European bureaucracy itself that stood behind this violence and financed the Molotov cocktail campaign,” Kobakhidze said. A few days earlier, he had already claimed that European Union representatives encouraged protesters as they threw Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers, whereas, according to him, a similar act in France led to a criminal case. As an example, the prime minister cited a 2023 incident: Tbilisi resident Lazar Grigoriadis threw a Molotov cocktail at a police officer, was sentenced to nine years in prison, but was later pardoned by President Salome Zourabichvili amid protests that, in the prime minister's characterization, were supported by Western NGOs.

Context

The prime minister's statement comes amid the ongoing confrontation between Georgia's authorities and their Western partners: earlier in the country, as noted in the publications, other demands were voiced toward Tbilisi regarding foreign trade. It should be emphasized that the accusations against the EED and the European bureaucracy are the words of the Georgian prime minister; the cited publications contain no confirmation or reaction from the European Union.