False and cheap provocation by intelligence services - Kobakhidze on BBC report

The BBC story accusing Tbilisi police of using chemical weapons against protesters was fabricated to further "blackmail" Georgia’s government, Georgian Prime Minister Irakly Kobakhidze said.

"Obviously, the BBC report is not just false, it is a cheap provocation planned by foreign intelligence services, the aims of which are twofold. The first one is to give our enemies the opportunity to artificially reignite the protests that died out some time ago. The second one is to create a pretext to continue blackmailing the Georgian people and its elected government," Kobakhidze said.

The PM noted that European politicians and members of the European Parliament are planning to discuss the BBC report at the upcoming OSCE Ministerial Council meeting.

Earlier, the BBC published a report alleging that the Georgian authorities had used World-War-1-era chemical weapons against protesters in 2024.