Georgian Parliament official says European Parliament has ‘missed the mark’ nine times with Georgia resolutions

Archil Gorduladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, said on Thursday that the European Parliament had “missed the mark” nine times with what he described as unfounded and attack-oriented resolutions concerning Georgia, arguing that such resolutions say more about the European Parliament itself than they do about Georgia.

Gorduladze’s remarks came after the European Parliament adopted another resolution concerning Georgia during a plenary session. The resolution was supported by 445 MEPs, while 37 voted against it and 97 abstained.

According to the resolution, MEPs called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of opposition figures Elene Khoshtaria, Nika Melia and Giorgi Baramidze, as well as former President Mikheil Saakashvili and journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli.

Gorduladze made the remarks while speaking to journalists about the European Parliament’s vote on the resolution concerning Georgia.

According to Gorduladze, the purpose of such discussions is to use pressure and what he described as “blackmail” to force his political team and its supporters to change their position and turn Georgia into a “proxy” state.

“The European Parliament has fired nine times with its unfounded and attack-oriented resolutions, and it has missed the mark all nine times. It has failed to trample on the will of the Georgian people or violate our sovereignty. Once again, such resolutions say more about the European Parliament itself than they provide the public with information about Georgia”, Gorduladze said.

He also criticized the European Parliament’s repeated calls for the release of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

“While they are once again demanding Mikheil Saakashvili’s release, it is interesting to see what explanation they will give now. Previously, they said that he was suffering from two incurable illnesses. What will they say now - has Mikheil Saakashvili overcome these two incurable illnesses or not?” Gorduladze said.

He emphasized that, in his view, the resolutions carry little weight because of the limited number of lawmakers attending their discussions.

“We see that the value of such resolutions is not even worth the paper they are printed on, for the simple reason that when only around 20 people attend the discussion of a resolution in a 720-member parliament, and then an overwhelming majority supports it, this once again highlights that decisions in the European Parliament are not based on an examination of the issue or on specific evidence. It is purely a political objective”, he said.

Gorduladze argued that the stated objective was to pressure Georgia’s ruling political team and its supporters into changing their position and turning the country into a “proxy” state.

“The goal is the same as it has been for years - to somehow use blackmail to make our political team and our supporters change their minds and turn our country into a ‘proxy’ state. Of course, they will not achieve this”, he said.