“First, they were blackmailing us with the candidate status, then they brought up the issue of opening or not opening negotiations. In the end, what they have left in their hands is the issue of visa liberalization”- Mayor

We want friends and partners, but so that our country's interests are trampled and their own interests are pursued, - the mayor of the capital, Kakha Kaladze, told journalists.

As he said in response to a relevant question, some European bureaucrats have the issue of visa liberalization as their last weapon to blackmail the Georgian people.

"The Georgian government is ready to take concrete steps, but not with double standards - what is possible for them is not possible for us. When they come out and tell you that transparency is bad and contradicts European values, the future and hinders European integration, you ask a simple question, right? Why is transparency bad? All this time we have not received any arguments or answers. There are simply some political speculations about how to somehow harm the country and people. First, they were blackmailing us with the candidate status, then they brought up the issue of opening or not opening negotiations. With all these issues, they tried to arrange confrontation and revolution in the country, but they did not succeed. In the end, what they have left in their hands is the issue of visa liberalization and with this they are blackmailing the population of our country," - said Kakha Kaladze.

According to him, as long as there is a Russian-Ukrainian war, there is also a threat of opening a second front in Georgia.

“Whether it was the Swedish or Danish Prime Minister, I don’t remember exactly, during a meeting with Ukrainian soldiers, he came out and made a statement that Ukraine would not become a member of the European Union if same-sex marriage was not legalized. There are many components, even starting a war. They would directly call us to the cabinet and threaten the Prime Minister. Of course, this threat has not gone away. While the Russian-Ukrainian war is ongoing, this threat still exists. We do not want our country to be used to pursue their interests, we have said this many times. We want friends and partners, but not so that the interests of our country are trampled and their interests are pursued. We know that friendship and partnership are mutual,” the mayor of the capital noted.