“The European Union has delayed everything too much because for a year, we’ve been beaten, arrested, and attacked, while the EU itself has created such a heavy and bureaucratic structure, whose weak points Russia exploits very effectively,” said Aleko Elisashvili, one of the leaders of “Lelo – Strong Georgia,” during an appearance on PalitraNews’s program “360 Degrees,” commenting on expected sanctions from the European Union.

According to him, he would want the leaders of “Georgian Dream” to face sanctions comparable to the Magnitsky List.

“The sanctions imposed by the European Union are delayed, but I would want sanctions that everyone feels on their own skin, including asset seizures. Every leader of ‘Georgian Dream’ has a house in Europe. Every leader has either a business, bank accounts, or vast property in Europe. I would want sanctions like those on the Magnitsky List,” Elisashvili noted.

The opposition politician also commented on the statement by Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, regarding certain plans. Elisashvili said he could not see a plan for unity in her statement.

“In Salome Zurabishvili’s speech, I couldn’t see a plan; it lacked steps for action. The need for unity is correct—I’ve been saying this all along. I really want to meet with Salome Zurabishvili and talk to her. She has the right position, but I don’t see a plan or steps for how to achieve unity,” Elisashvili stated.

Regarding the local government elections, Elisashvili said he offered a compromise to the opposition parties advocating for a boycott and presented two different plans to them.

“We’re asking a simple question to the rest of the opposition: how do we defeat ‘Georgian Dream’ with a boycott? What do we do until October 4, and when we wake up on the morning of October 5, what do we do? We approached with compromise options, saying: you want a boycott, we want elections, so let’s think about compromises. The next day, we went to a meeting and proposed this compromise: there are 64 municipalities in Georgia—let’s announce a boycott in 63 and fight in Tbilisi. Or the second version, which I prefer more: a boycott across all of Georgia, but let’s fight in the six major cities where the opposition is strong, because that way we can truly diversify our forces. All we heard in response was stomping feet, talk of hunger strikes, and ‘either boycott or nothing.’

We’re saying something very simple to those who are cursing and spitting: we genuinely want to defeat this government, but we see inaction in a boycott. We’re saying, let’s enter a losing battle; we have no guarantee of winning anything, but we can really heat up the process,” he noted.

When asked whether “Strong Georgia” plans to cooperate with Giorgi Gakharia’s party before the elections, Elisashvili responded that they are intensively discussing cooperation and aligning their positions as much as possible.

“I’m not criticizing Giorgi Gakharia for going abroad. It was a pragmatic and very correct decision because we’ve seen opposition leaders enter with their heads held high and get arrested, and one more or fewer leaders wouldn’t change the picture. It’s very good that he’s there, doing important work for the common fight, especially since Gakharia’s party is heavily dependent on him, and arresting its leader would completely paralyze the party. It’s better for Gakharia to be abroad, and he will play a significant role in the common cause,” Elisashvili stated.