The country is sitting on a powder keg, on the brink of civil confrontation - the Patriarchate must raise its voice on this. I hope we will hear the Patriarch’s voice, - this was stated by one of the leaders of “Strong Georgia - Lelo,” Pikria Chikhradze, on the PalitraNews program “Day’s Newsroom,” responding to the founding of a new movement by MMA fighter Giorgi Kartvelishvili “for the protection of Georgian values, principles, and traditions.”

According to her, this “group” was created under the government’s wing, and we should expect that it will be used only for violent actions.

Pikria Chikhradze says that the creation of this type of organizations carries the risk of civil confrontation, and “no one should have any doubt that these people intend to act on the instructions of the authorities.”

“First of all, I consider this one of the very strong signs of the collapse of the state. It is impossible that in a legal state where institutions work properly, the law rules, and the constitution is at the level of a constitution, something like this is created and no one has a reaction to it. On the contrary, representatives of the authorities express texts of a kind of support toward this movement. No one should have any doubt that these people are supporters of the authorities and intend to carry out actions on their instructions - this will be a confrontation with different opinions, with people who have different views. I find it very hard to imagine any of the people sitting there being sat down for 15-20 minutes and made to talk about Georgian values - what ideas do they have?! What ideas do they have, including about the Church?! How can a person imagine protecting with their fist what is the strongest thing in the world?! Nothing stronger than the word of Christ and the Church of Christ has been created over these centuries. All of this has come this far without their protection. Someone has now decided to carry out violent actions according to their own views, and I think this is completely out of place,” - Chikhradze stated.

The opposition politician says that the development of democratic processes in Georgia should depend on the mood and views of the representatives of this “group,” which is an anomalous phenomenon.

Chikhradze notes that the responsibility for this lies on the shoulders of Bidzina Ivanishvili and “Georgian Dream.”

“I hope that we will hear [the Patriarch’s] voice, because the risk of civil confrontation lies in the creation of this type of organizations and the carrying out of this type of actions - when people confront each other because of their views. The group that we saw yesterday was directly created under the protection of the government’s wing, and we should already expect that it will be used only for violent actions.

Yesterday some people were saying, go and help people at the occupation line. It seems to sound good, but an informal group that may carry the sign of armed confrontation or violent confrontation should not be at the occupation line either, because there is a great danger of provocations there. Such protection should be carried out only by state structures, agencies, and the law, and not by informal groups and organizations - people who cannot even formulate what they want, why they gathered. The development of democratic processes in Georgia should depend on the mood and views of these people. This is an anomalous phenomenon.

Someone is appealing to the Patriarchate, and I also think that the Patriarchate must raise its voice on this, but the responsibility is on the shoulders of Bidzina Ivanishvili and ‘Georgian Dream.’ All of this will contribute to a criminal situation and confrontation. The authorities are responsible for the creation, encouragement, and protection of this type of force, which may tomorrow and the day after appear as some uncontrolled process for Georgia and, among other things, for the authorities themselves,” - she noted.

At the same time, Pikria Chikhradze believes that even the supporters of “Georgian Dream” understand very well that the country cannot return to the chaos and misfortune that we went through three decades ago.

The opposition politician expresses hope that through the active efforts of the Church and society, including the supporters of “Georgian Dream” themselves, the situation will not reach a large-scale confrontation.

“The country is sitting on a powder keg. It is also on the brink of civil confrontation. I think that even the supporters of ‘Georgian Dream’ understand very well that the country can no longer return to the chaos and misfortune that we went through three decades ago, but they have Russian examples. These groups most of all remind us of Kadyrov-style groups, which are provided with a good life, cars, expensive items, weapons, and appear on the front line during any confrontation. By confrontation is meant that they deal with those who do not catch Kadyrov’s eye. Here too, this type of group is being created so that they deal with those people who do not catch the eye of the representatives of the authorities. I have a very great hope that through the efforts of the same Church, the efforts of society, and the active efforts of the supporters of ‘Georgian Dream’ as well, such a thing will not reach a large-scale confrontation. Those who so irresponsibly make decisions and create such elevated risk groups in the country will be held very heavily accountable,” - Chikhradze noted.

In addition, she responded to the statement of the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, “that remaining outside the European Union may even turn out to be more beneficial for a small state,” and noted that the representatives of “Georgian Dream” are no longer hiding anything and are saying what they have to say directly.

“I think he is clearly saying what he wants to say. These people are not hiding anything. I think they are constantly reporting to Russia that even if they invent fairy tales for us, we are fulfilling your assignment and will not take a step toward the European Union. Second - with this they are trying to deceive the Georgian society, which wants Europe, a European-style state.

I think the voters of ‘Georgian Dream’ have reached that limit and see very well that it is absolutely unjust when a person is arrested for standing on the sidewalk. Arresting people for a word written on Facebook or for an empty placard creates a feeling of injustice and a threat, including for these people themselves in the future. I do not think that anyone wants the creation of groups of physical confrontation, because all of this distances us from the European civilized world and brings us closer to chaos, the Kadyrov system, the Russian system. This ownerless system is falling apart, and let’s open our eyes a little and see that with this Georgia will in no case be able to preserve a better future,” - Chikhradze stated.