Georgian Parliament Speaker: rose-coloured view of Europe gone

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday accused foreign actors of intervening to shield the United National Movement regime after its fall, preventing justice.

In his remarks, Papuashvili emphasised that the sole goal had been to preserve this “party and ideology of hatred” in Georgia, keeping it as a slow-acting threat that could be activated when needed.

“Today we see the pressure firsthand, and it’s easy to imagine how intense the pressure was back then to prevent justice from being carried out. The goal was simple: to maintain this party and ideology of hatred in Georgia as a slow-acting threat that could be triggered if necessary”, the Speaker noted.

He further added that over the past 13 years, the group has become active at various times and continues to operate under complete external control.

“I believe Georgian society has long removed the ‘rose-colored glasses’ with which it viewed the world and Europe. Everyone has seen that the European Union is not an assembly of saints acting solely in the interest of others. Each pursues its own interests, and we saw this during the Russia-Ukraine war, when it became clear that our interests were of no concern in the EU or Brussels. At that time, we were left exposed to escalation with Russia through NGOs and the National Movement, being pushed toward conflict”, Papuashvili said.

“This showed the Georgian people that the idea of an international order based on rules as a shared value is largely a construct, designed to convince small countries that the world is rule-based, whereas in reality, it is cold calculations and the pursuit of self-interest - the same politics that existed before World War II”, he continued.

The Speaker concluded by emphasising that, based on Georgia’s experience, EU member states had flagrantly violated international rules.

“From Georgia’s example, we see how EU member states grossly violate international rules, the Vienna Convention, and international treaties in relation to Georgia. This is the main lesson that the Georgian people have learned over the past 13 years. If you want to be independent and sovereign, you must be ready to withstand external pressures. Neither the Soviet Union nor anyone else has ever ‘gifted’ independence and freedom”, he concluded.