Regional leader condemns halting Georgia’s EU membership bid.
Local media has reported that Mikheil Butskhrikidze, the head of the Adigeni Municipality Council in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti, has released a statement on social media, distancing himself from the government’s decision to suspend the country’s European integration process.
‘As a public sector employee, the head of the Adigeni Municipality Council, I unequivocally distance myself from the statement made on 28 November and condemn the violent crackdown on the peaceful protest of Georgian citizens’, Butskhrikidze reportedly wrote on social media.
‘I believe that, given the current geopolitical situation, it is vitally important for our country to join Euro-Atlantic structures, as this is not only our desire, but also the centuries-old aspiration of our ancestors.
I also remain loyal to Article 78 of the Constitution of Georgia, which clearly states that our country’s place and future lies only in Europe, and on this path, we, the citizens of Georgia, must make every effort to fulfill the will of the Georgian nation’, his statement read.
Speaking to Samkhretis Karibchesi, Butskhrikidze noted that he was not able to speak about the current mood in the city council due to the changes in the law making public servants vulnerable.
‘I’m staying at work for now. The new law threatens me and other civil servants, both middle and lower ranks. Our dismissal will depend on party interests, not professionalism’, Butskhrikidze said.
‘Whatever happens in the country is done precisely by the hands of middle and lower-level public servants, that is, the work process. Such a devaluation of professionalism and the maximum lack of protection of their rights will lead to a catastrophe in the country’, he added.