Georgian Parliament Speaker denounces EU officials for “hypocrisy” over OSCE/ODIHR reports

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday strongly criticised recent statements made by EU officials regarding the situation in Georgia.

Papuashvili’s comments came after the statement by the EU High Representative and the Commissioner for Enlargement on Friday said that the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR report on the latest elections in Georgia should be implemented “as a matter of urgency”.

In a social media post, Papuashvili expressed his astonishment that, instead of acknowledging their own mistakes, condemning violent protests, and ensuring transparency regarding the funding of the European Endowment for Democracy, certain institutions were making “uninformed and unfounded” accusations against Georgia.

“It is astonishing that instead of acknowledging mistakes, condemning violent protests, and disclosing the finances of the European Endowment for Democracy, we hear uninformed and unsubstantiated accusations against Georgia”, the Speaker said.

He further called out what he described as “hypocrisy”, criticising institutions that refuse to acknowledge the OSCE/ODIHR election reports while simultaneously urging Georgia to consider future OSCE/ODIHR assessments in its legislative process.

“This is hypocrisy - institutions that do not recognise the OSCE/ODIHR election reports themselves are now calling on us to take future OSCE/ODIHR reports into account when making laws”, Papuashvili concluded.