Georgia’s ruling party official hits back at Kallas over Georgia’s EU path

Irakli Kirtskhalia, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s parliamentary faction, said on Monday that criticism from Brussels should be met with constructive dialogue, claiming, however, that neither EU diplomats nor their “network of agents” were willing to engage in discussion.

Kirtskhalia was responding to remarks by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who said that “the Georgian people want a European future, yet the Georgian Dream systematically deprives them of it”.

In his remarks, Kirtskhalia said it was difficult to engage in a debate with Georgians while demanding that they refrain from adopting the law on transparency of foreign influence.

“So, it turns out the European path runs through a lack of transparency. It is difficult to engage in a discussion when you tell Georgians or any self-respecting nation that banning an LGBT+ campaign is supposedly non-European. It is difficult to discuss when you tell Georgians that a man can simply go to the Public Service Hall and transform into a woman. It is hard to enter into a debate when you tell Georgians that same-sex marriage is a European value. They have been talking about repealing these laws for years. It is difficult to engage in a discussion with the government and the public when you claim that burning a police officer, throwing Molotov cocktails, and pursuing revolutionary scenarios constitute freedom of expression”, Kirtskhalia said.

“It is difficult to make and defend such claims before Georgians. That is why we hear such brazen statements. They are the architects of labelling the legislation the Russian law. They struggle to explain why the law is actually Russian; hence, we hear such brazen statements. It is precisely these kinds of statements that tarnish their reputation and undermine the very values upon which the European Union was built. We see studies from within the EU itself examining the perceptions and views of the populations of EU member states regarding the policies pursued by the Brussels elite”, he concluded.