Georgian Parliament Speaker says European Parliament has fallen into ‘civilisational abyss’

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said the European Parliament had already fallen into what he described as a “civilisational abyss”, arguing that it must emerge from that state before its statements could be taken seriously.

Papuashvili made the remarks in response to a question about the European Parliament’s resolution on Georgia.

He said it was becoming increasingly difficult to take the institution and its resolutions seriously, criticising what he described as the political values and Soviet mentality of some European lawmakers.

“I think it is already difficult to assess the European Parliament and its resolutions seriously. On the one hand, the European People’s Party (EPP) still considers Saakashvili the leading democrat. This is a political grouping standing on the brink of a values abyss. On the other hand, we see so-called post-Soviet leaders, such as Rasa Juknevičienė, an associate of Gorbachev, and others. These people have a purely Soviet mentality, which has infiltrated the European Parliament”, Papuashvili said.

He argued that the European Parliament had repeatedly called for sanctions against Georgian officials, adding that his own name had appeared in three resolutions.

“There is nothing surprising about this. We have already seen nine such resolutions calling for sanctions, and this is the third resolution in which I have found my own name”, he said.

“We should look at it this way: when we say that the European Union is being driven towards a civilizational abyss, the European Parliament is already there, speaking to us from within it. For us to consider its statements worthy of discussion, the European Parliament must first climb out of this civilizational abyss. Only then might its words acquire some weight”, he continued.

Papuashvili also compared the European Parliament to the Soviet Union’s Congress of People’s Deputies, drawing parallels between criticism directed at Georgians during the late Soviet period and recent debates in the European Parliament.

“It reminds us of the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies - the aesthetics are the same. You can still find footage online of the Congress held in May 1989, following the events of April 9. Just as Georgians were insulted in the European Parliament yesterday, Russian and non-Russian Soviet deputies were insulting Georgians back then. We heard the same abuse”, Papuashvili emphasised.

He added that Georgians should respond to the criticism in the same way they had in 1989, refusing to give weight to what he described as insults and hostility towards the Georgian people.

The Parliament Speaker also criticised European Parliament member Rasa Juknevičienė, alleging that her rhetoric reflected hostility towards Georgians.

“Her vocabulary and rhetoric show that she simply despises us Georgians. Stalin is her personal enemy, and because Stalin was Georgian, she has a resentment towards Georgians that she has been unable to overcome”, Papuashvili said.

He further argued that Georgia could not join the European Union if the European Parliament continued to include lawmakers who, in his view, expressed hostility towards the Georgian people.

“If the European Union wants Georgia to become a member, we cannot be admitted as a member with a European Parliament like this. We have nothing in common with people who openly despise Georgians and use the European Parliament’s chamber to express that hatred”, he concluded.