Georgian Parliament Speaker calls on foreign ambassadors to cease “justifying, funding extremism”

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday issued a strong appeal to all foreign ambassadors in the country, urging them to “take their responsibilities seriously and stop justifying, encouraging, and funding extremism”.

Speaking to journalists, Papuashvili stated that extremism and violence share the same face everywhere, whether it's seen in Tbilisi, Berlin, Los Angeles, or Paris.

“The problem is that some in Europe believe that throwing Molotov cocktails at their police officers is bad, but if they're thrown at Georgian police officers, it's good and peaceful. Some Europeans think that throwing flares and burning buildings in Berlin is bad, but if people funded by the European Union budget burn the Georgian Parliament [building], that's good”, the Speaker said.

He characterised this as a “crisis of values” present within certain political groups in various European capitals, including Brussels. Papuashvili added that such instances “simply show us once again how brazen some foreigners' attitudes towards violence can sometimes be”.