Georgian Parliament Speaker accuses EU-funded media of disinformation amidst OSCE resolution controversy

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday sharply criticised certain media outlets, particularly those funded by the European Union, for allegedly spreading disinformation. His remarks came in response to reports from opposition media claiming the Georgian delegation supported an OSCE resolution.

Papuashvili vehemently denied these claims, stating that the Georgian delegation did not and would not support a resolution containing false information. He highlighted the irony of the situation, noting that the EU has previously recommended Georgia combat disinformation, yet, according to him, it funds organizations that disseminate falsehoods.

“Of course, when such false information is written into a resolution, it does not have our support. However, the document itself was developed in a way that would have had our support if it were not for Joe Wilson and well-known groups: Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic countries - I don’t know why they hold such hostility toward the Georgian people, what have we done other than good, that they want to harm the Georgian people like this. But we see that due to their efforts, this half-sentence was included, which of course would not have had any support from us”, Papuashvili said.

He noted that the original version of the document had the support of the Georgian delegation.

“Our initiated amendment was included among them. It was our delegation’s initiative, which the authors of the text took into account, and in this regard, this part of the resolution is more or less acceptable”, the Parliament Speaker said.

“Were it not for this one harmful sentence, which was introduced at the initiative of the Ukrainian delegation and Joe Wilson, it would certainly have had our support. But when lies are written into various documents for political intrigue, and we have experience of this - the European Parliament is a good example, which has become a well-known author of slander through its resolutions - of course, this will not have our support”, he concluded.