Russian Foreign Ministry comments on Tbilisi protests

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said that Georgia’s radically-minded opposition used the Russian delegation’s visit to the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy for staging unrest.

"This merely emphasizes the emotional charge of the radical part of Georgian politicians, who have been doing all they can to upset the normalization of relations between Moscow and Tbilisi," TASS cited the diplomat as saying.

Karasin added that it is most important to ensure "the participants in the assembly be not hurt and return home."

Several hundred demonstrators who joined the protesting opposition in the evening of Thursday tried to force their way into the building of parliament. They were demanding the resignation of the Interior Minister and the speaker of parliament. According to Georgian media several dozen people were detained. The rally was triggered by a row of the participation of Russian State Duma member Sergei Gavrilov and other delegates from Russia in the 26th session of the General Assembly of the International Assembly on Orthodoxy in Tbilisi.