President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, says the rector of Tbilisi State University does not allow students to set up tables in the university building and collect signatures for the petition “Our Voice for Europe”.
The president also talks about the pressure on students.
“I was in the villages now. It is incomprehensible to me that the representatives of the municipality do not meet the president when she arrives. They do not meet the representatives of the diplomatic corps when they also attend these events, the goal of which is one – Georgia’s European path. Even worse, I don’t understand threatening students not to come. I also don’t understand that the rector of Tbilisi State University does not allow students to open their tables and sign this very simple statement,” said Salome Zurabishvili on November 30, at the “Georgia’s Choice” conference organized by the Multiparty Democracy Center (EECMD).
Zurabishvili noted that the rector says a political event cannot be held inside the university building. However, the text of the petition is the most apolitical.
Students collect signatures in front of the building of Tbilisi State University.
The President is collecting signatures for the “Our Voice for Europe” petition, which calls on European leaders to grant Georgia candidate status. As part of the campaign, she holds meetings in the regions, which, as Zurabishvili claims, local government representatives do not attend.
Related story: “Our voice to Europe” — President to collect signatures for the EU
