Ruling party head: EU ambassador also responsible for Melia’s release

Head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobakhidze says that EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell ‘also carries responsibility’ for the release of the head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia and he (Hartzell) should have commented Melia’s ‘provocations’ at the EU office yesterday.  

Kobakhidze says that what Melia did ‘also insulted Hartzell.’ 

Melia and Kobakhidze exchanged insults at the EU office yesterday and nearly attacked. 

They came there to meet with Hartzell to allegedly discuss the issue of recently leaked files on politicians, clerics and diplomats.  

Melia called Kobakhidze a ‘slave’ and other abusive words and Kobakhidze also responded with an insult. 

Melia left prison in May 2021 after the EU posted his bail for a case connected with June 2019 protests in Tbilisi.  

The move came on the heels of the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement which helped Georgian political parties resolve a more than six-month political crisis in the country which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.  

Melia’s arrest in February 2021 further complicated the crisis and that is why he was included in the EU-mediated agreement.