"Either a concert or a video" - Sopo Khalvashi's offer and Batumi City Hall's denial to Ukrainians

The Batumi Independence Day event was practically cancelled by Batumi City Hall. The organizers were refused at the last moment to set up the stage at the Wonder Square. The Vice-Mayor had specific demands - either a concert or a video - this was the condition set by Sopo Khalvashi to the organizers when she found out that the video of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Georgian and Ukrainian military would be shown at the concert dedicated to the Independence day of Ukraine. Moreover, the organizers say that in a private conversation they directly told the speakers that they should not talk about the war and Russian aggression at all.

Today the organizers of the event have started installing an alternative stage, but the supervisory service of Batumi City Hall prevents this and demands the permission, otherwise they threaten to dismantle the temporary stage.

Event organizers say the pro-Ukrainian rally will still take place today. They also rented a monitor from Tbilisi, but when it was brought to Batumi, they also had problems with the equipment.

The truck was stopped by the patrol police in Zestaponi at night, and the driver was allowed to move after a 12-hour delay.