“Lelo,” a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), first declared a terrorist to be one of its colleagues and has now launched a xenophobic campaign, which, for the record, contradicts ALDE’s stated value of rejecting ethnic division and xenophobia,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili wrote on social media, responding to statements by the leaders of “Lelo - Strong Georgia,” in which they spoke about the threat of “Arabization” in Georgia.

According to Shalva Papuashvili, “some time ago, ALDE failed to take the opportunity to distance itself from Lelo’s terrorist [Aleko Elisashvili] colleague, and one compromise on values is followed by another.”

“‘Lelo,’ a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), first declared a terrorist to be one of its colleagues and has now launched a xenophobic campaign, which, for the record, contradicts ALDE’s stated value of rejecting ethnic division and xenophobia.

Some time ago, ALDE failed to take the opportunity to distance itself from Lelo’s terrorist [Aleko Elisashvili] colleague. One compromise on values is followed by another. Let us see whether ALDE will now prove itself faithful to the values it has itself declared on paper and distance itself from xenophobia,” Shalva Papuashvili wrote.

For reference, Irakli Kupradze, Secretary General of “Strong Georgia - Lelo,” spoke about the “threat of Arabization” at a briefing held in Gonio together with his colleagues. According to him, at a time when Georgia is being emptied of its citizens, “the emergence of two Arab enclaves in the two major cities, Batumi and Tbilisi, is a crime against Georgia’s security and economy.”