Georgian Parliament Speaker claims EU funds organisations seeking to derail upcoming local elections

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday claimed that efforts to disrupt the upcoming local self-government elections were already underway.

Speaking to journalists, Papuashvili noted that organisations openly aiming to sabotage the elections were receiving funding from the European Union.

“Regarding the elections, we see attempts to disrupt them”, the Speaker said.

He alleged that the British Embassy had sought to fund organisations whose stated goal was to derail the elections.

Papuashvili specifically named several domestic non-governmental organisations that he claims have made statements advocating for boycott and sabotage: Transparency International Georgia, Nino Lomjaria's NGO Sapari.

“I remind you, these organizations are financed by the Embassy of the European Union. So, the Embassy of the European Union is still funding organisations today whose declared goal is to disrupt the local self-government elections”, he concluded.