Georgian Parliament Speaker criticises German Embassy’s “cynical” use of Humboldt’s words

In a recent social media message, the Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili criticised the German Embassy in Tbilisi for what he described as an act of political cynicism.

The controversy emerged after the Embassy echoed the famous words of German philosopher Alexander von Humboldt - “The future belongs to those who know their past” - and invited Irakli Khvadagiani, number eight on the parliamentary list of the opposition United National Movement party, to speak at a public event.

“It is hard to imagine greater cynicism than inviting a propagandist for Saakashvili and a follower of his extremist ideas to talk about reflecting on the past. And all this is organised by a foreign embassy, which refuses to see the crimes committed under Saakashvili’s regime - while a parliamentary investigative commission listens to testimonies of human tragedies”, the Speaker said.

“Indeed, as Humboldt would say: the most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have never looked at the world”, Papuashvili concluded.