Georgian Prime Minister Accuses OSCE Chair of Lying

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that the OSCE Chairperson and Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen lied when she claimed she was the first to cancel a meeting with him.

The Georgian government's press service announced today that the Prime Minister canceled the meeting with the OSCE Chair and Finnish Foreign Minister due to his participation in a protest rally held in Tbilisi on Tuesday.

Later, the Finnish Foreign Ministry's press service informed RIA Novosti that Kobakhidze did not cancel the meeting with Valtonen because Helsinki itself had canceled the meeting on Tuesday due to the minister's busy schedule.

“She lied during the rally. She lied that the protest action had just begun and people had just joined… This is a disaster when Finland, not the largest country in the European Union but a member state, and its Foreign Minister are telling such lies… We immediately decided to cancel the meeting, putting her in an awkward position,” Kobakhidze said in an interview with Georgian First Channel.