Christmas tree to be lit at the parliament without a special event, Kaladze announces

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze announced that the city’s main Christmas tree, located near the Parliament, will be lit today, but without any special event.

The tree-lighting event was originally scheduled to be lit on December 15 with a special ceremony, but the event was postponed due to almost three-weeks long protests at the location against the ruling party’s decision to halt Georgia’s EU membership bid.

Kaladze stated that the event was canceled due to ‘provocations’ from those present there and claimed that ‘aggressive groups controlled by the radical opposition are doing everything they can to prevent a festive mood from entering our capital’.

He further stated that there were attempts to ‘plant fear’ to prevent people from bringing their children to the location and that ‘provocations were being carried out’ against those who showed up.

Kaladze described the situation as ‘liberal fascism’, a term frequently used by the ruling party recently to attack its opponents.

He concluded by saying that ‘the lights will be turned on this evening, and the city's main Christmas tree will be lit without an event’.