If there is anything to talk about with "Georgian Dream," it is only and exclusively this: new, fair parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners, - stated one of the leaders of "Lelo - Strong Georgia," Giorgi Sioridze, during his appearance on PalitraNews's program "Day's Newsroom," in response to the statement by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly regarding the need for political dialogue in Georgia.

As Sioridze noted, society needs stability, but they will sit down at the dialogue table with "Georgian Dream" only after there is readiness to take the first two steps necessary to resolve the crisis.

"This statement coming from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is essentially in line with the position of 'Lelo - Strong Georgia,' which has not changed over the past year and a half since the resistance movement began. That position is new, fair parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners. Even 'Georgian Dream' acknowledges that there is a political crisis in the country. Sometimes they declare it openly and publicly, sometimes they try to pretend that nothing extraordinary is happening, but their own statements contradict themselves, and they can no longer sell this populist nonsense even to their most unaware voters. There is a crisis in the country, and this crisis has many facets, but two main causes. First and foremost, the existence of political prisoners and parliamentary elections as a way to resolve the political crisis — of course, in tandem with the release of political prisoners. In the extremely difficult situation that has developed in our region in recent times, we are practically in a hot spot. Our brotherly Ukraine has been at war for five years already, and the hot spot is just a few hundred kilometers from our country's border. The situation is very tense. Considering all this, it is especially important that there be stability in our country, which our people want, and stability cannot be achieved in any case as long as this political crisis exists.

'Lelo - Strong Georgia' has always said — and we were not alone in this; the opposition spectrum said the same from the beginning — that if there is anything to discuss with 'Georgian Dream,' it is only and exclusively this, despite the fact that there are many other fundamental problems in this country that should be discussed. How can you give them the opportunity to create even the facade or appearance of normalization while these main issues remain unresolved? Of course, we will not give 'Georgian Dream' that opportunity.

The first two steps to resolve the crisis are these. Our society needs to take a breath and be able to cope with the challenges that exist even in the region. Georgia is walking on a tightrope, especially now. Any misstep can cost us dearly and take years to correct — if correction is even possible at all. That is why it is important for the political process to continue. In the current environment, which is saturated with extreme confrontation, hatred, and escalation, where there is literally the smell of political gunpowder in the country, society needs this stability.

Of course, everything must remain within constitutional limits. But for that, political actors and society as a whole must find the strength to talk. However, we must talk only and exclusively about the main issues, and those boil down to two main problems," - stated Giorgi Sioridze.

In addition, he assessed the statements made in the European Parliament and noted that "it is an important fact that the issue of political prisoners is also on the agenda of the European Parliament."

"Various European structures — the European Union, the Council of Europe, and member states — throughout this entire period have always recorded their position, and the issue of Georgia is always on the agenda.

First and foremost, the constant theme is political repressions and the existence of political prisoners as a recognized fact. The necessity of releasing political prisoners to defuse the most acute political crisis and the presentation of this issue. We saw similar statements from the OSCE as well. It is an important fact that the issue of political prisoners is also on the agenda of the European Parliament. We saw this in the debates too. This once again confirms that Europe and the European Union will not reconcile with these steps of 'Georgian Dream.' Naturally, at the same time, this means that the door of the European Union is open and has been opened for Georgia. This is the result of the persistent, truly deserved struggle of the Georgian people, which ultimately manifested in the granting of candidate status. However, at the same time, this certainly does not mean that just because the door is open, one can simply walk through it. The European Union does not beg anyone to join; on the contrary, it was Georgia's desire and declared application to complete the integration process into the European Union to the end. But 'Georgian Dream' has done everything possible to ensure that our country does not enter through that door. They began a gradual democratic backsliding and the destruction of the foundation of the minimal standards that are a prerequisite for integration into the European Union. 'Georgian Dream' has destroyed the democratic space, brought the state of human rights to a critically low level — something everyone acknowledges. Ivanishvili very quickly led this country down the path that Russia took over a much longer period," - stated Sioridze.

Another issue he addressed was the summoning of opposition politician Givi Targamadze to the State Security Service. According to Sioridze, "the authorities have made the Georgian people forget what the real function of the SSS might be."

"It seems society has already been made to forget what real function the SSS has in this country — that it is responsible for state security, for preventing threats and for rapid response. Because we see, especially in recent years, how the SSS has turned into the type of agency that the 'KGB' or 'FSB' was, like the security services in authoritarian states. Those services that primarily care not about the security of the state, but about the security of the ruling force, the ruling party. And caring for the security of the ruling party is expressed in such matters as the persecution of political opponents, illegal surveillance, total unconstitutional and illegal control, digging into people's private lives.

In reality, this agency — which has been created as a monstrous monolith even at the legislative level — has completely different functions. Naturally, it should respond to such issues, but when we see that because of statements made in public space, because of quoting or disseminating statements available from public sources, they summon politicians — well-known figures to society — naturally, very legitimate questions arise," - stated Sioridze.