President Salome Zurabishvili said she has had filed a complaint and demanded an investigation after being pelted with eggs by government-paid thugs on her arrival at Tbilisi International Airport. Speaking at a press briefing, she described the attack as a ‘pre-organized’ act of violence, calling it “the little spite of little men”, and noted that it was later justified by representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party.

“…This means that the state is not being respected,” Zurabishvili declared, adding that “in this case, I am a symbol of what the Georgian Dream is fighting against – the Georgian state, Georgian traditions, Georgian courtesy… the image of Georgia in the world”.

The President described the attack as an act of weakness by the ruling party, saying: “All they can do is take repressive measures and throw eggs… If that’s not a sign of weakness, I don’t know what is”. She also criticized the GD government’s ability to lead, saying, “They can’t govern Georgia anymore. They don’t know how to govern the country anymore”.

Zurabishvili also expressed concern about the wider implications of the attack, pointing to the state’s failure to maintain security and order. She questioned how such incidents, including the attack on former GD Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, could take place in such a central location as the airport, highlighting the inability of the authorities to prevent politically motivated violence. She also noted that there had been threats against her on the social network, of which she was aware, and that the police should have known about the attack and prevented it, which she said they did not do.

Zurabishvili underlined that a functioning state provides security for everyone, even those with different political views. “The state is when order is maintained, when security is maintained for everyone, even for those people you don’t like because of their political views. That is the state, and they are making us lose the state day by day.”

Salome Zurabishvili thanked Georgian society and international partners for their support.

She also promised to give a thorough interview the following day to Formula TV to tell the society about the meetings she had at the Munich Security Conference.

Salome Zurabishvili also used the opportunity to thank Netgazeti director Mzia Amaghlobeli “for what she did and also for ending the hunger strike. We need leaders, we need tough women, we need tough individuals – alive, we don’t need victims, we need the spirit of victory.” She wished Amaghlobeli speedy recovery.