The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Elina Valtonen has stated that her meeting with the Georgian prime minister was canceled on her initiative, contrary to Tbilisi’s claim. She made this statement in a phone interview with Helsingin Sanomat.

Valtonen said that her slated meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze was canceled not by the Georgian side, but on Finland’s initiative, and that the Georgian side was informed about it on Tuesday evening.

Also, she denied the accusations made by the Georgian authorities that she had made “false statements,” or participated in any kind of campaign.

“I specifically attended the protest rallies that have been taking place in Georgia for weeks and months. I wanted to express my support for freedom of speech... It is up to the Georgian authorities to decide how to respond to that. Unfortunately, I had to respond by canceling my meeting with the prime minister in order to get to Azerbaijan,” Valtonen said.

Earlier, Kobakhidze had announced that he had canceled his meeting with Elina Valtonen “due to her participation in an illegal rally yesterday and her false statements.”

Valtonen had arrived in Georgia after a visit to Armenia and departed for Azerbaijani capital Baku on Wednesday morning. Initially, her meeting with Azerbaijani leaders had been scheduled for an earlier date. But they had to urgently travel to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to attend a summit with US President Donald Trump concerning a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

In Georgia, Elina Valtonen met with Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili, and expressed her concerns about the state of democracy in the country.