The right to peaceful demonstration and freedom of expression must be protected and I am truly sorry for the violence against peaceful protesters, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez Bueno told reporters ahead of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, when answering a question about the situation in Georgia.

“There are three issues regarding Georgia: first, of course, the right to peaceful demonstration and freedom of expression must be protected and I am truly sorry for the violence against peaceful protesters, second, I am very sorry and concerned about Georgia’s abandonment of the path to the European Union. Georgia’s future must be within the European family, third, today we must discuss the claims of a part of the Georgian political class about foreign interference in their democracy and their elections. I think disinformation and interference in elections are one of the main threats to our democracy,” the Spanish Foreign Minister noted.