Parliament Speaker says Georgia “not a pushover” for anyone, including EU

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday said Georgia was not a “pushover” for anyone, including the European Union, and stressed that what irritated the Georgian people, based on their historical experience, was being looked down upon.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted that the EU Ambassador, as well as other embassies, organisations, and politicians, “should refrain from adopting a patronising approach” toward the Georgian people.

“No one here is a pushover. We do not need to be taught democracy by some European countries, where, according to many rankings, Georgia performs better in several areas. We also do not need lessons on the rule of law. Therefore, they should act in line with Georgian legislation”, the Speaker said.

He further highlighted that it had emerged that EU citizens’ money was being used to fund a person who, according to him, had called for political assassination and mocked the death of one of Georgia’s prominent political figures, Levan Gachechiladze.

“We see parallels here with what is happening in America today, when liberals mock someone’s death. We are dealing with the same type of people in Georgia. The fact is, this person is funded with EU citizens’ money. Perhaps the EU Ambassador did not know that he was financing someone calling for political assassination and mocking people’s deaths, but he has known for several days now. The silence we see from Ambassador [Pawel] Herczynski is even worse than those statements. That is exactly the problem. On the one hand, they boast about good projects funded by them and take pictures, but when it turns out that the people they fund call for political assassinations, they remain silent and avoid the Georgian public”, Papuashvili noted.

The Speaker further added that instead of avoiding questions, Ambassador Herczynski should give clear answers.

“My wish would be for Pawel Herczynski to respond to these questions instead of hiding from the Georgian people. The question is simple - does he intend to continue financing, with EU citizens’ money, a person who calls for political assassination and mocks a human death?” Papuashvili concluded.