The refusal to accept an EU loan is a very incomprehensible step for a large part of the population and personally for me. Such a statement made today the President of Georgia.

“Today is September 2 and exactly one month is left the local elections, which has a special significance for Georgia and our European path. We must be able to hold exemplary elections without hate speech, violence and insults, in a democratic, competitive and fair environment!

We have overcome so many political and economic difficulties. Without the help, solidarity, support and hard work of our partners it would have been very difficult to endure and overcome the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and the internal political confrontation.

We also understand that the weakening of European support and interest in our country and region, for any reason, is in the interests of internal and external forces that are trying to destabilize and weaken our country.

Given these circumstances, the refusal to accept an EU loan is a rather incomprehensible step for a large part of the population and for me personally.

The economic argument - the need to reduce the debt – is not a proper argument! No matter how much our economy grows, even if it is double-digit, it still does not annul out the social and human damage that coronavirus brought to our population. It is unclear what causes the reduction of international debt more important than the crisis situation of our citizens. Until the result of the double-digit growth is reflected in the welfare of the community, the logic of refusing help is hard to understand!

I am convinced that the economic isolationism, which is unattainable even for the rich countries of the world today, and is a dangerous illusion for us as a small country, is not the basis of these decisions, but we need to be careful so that such steps do not inspire false perceptions”, - said Salome Zourabichvili.