Georgian Parliament Speaker accuses European Union officials of encouraging violence in Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday publicly accused European Union officials of encouraging violence in Georgia.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted that it was the European Commission's spokesperson, who expressed support for the gathering to overthrow the Government.

“This is where the European Union came in - the European Commission spokesperson supported the gathering of people with the aim of overthrowing the Government. In parallel with this attempted overthrow, when the fence [of the Presidential Palace] was being demolished, violence was being committed against law enforcement officers, [European Parliament member] Rasa Juknevičienė, [President of Moldova] Maia Sandu and other high-ranking officials of Brussels and the European Union were putting up support posts - go Georgians, demolish it, the Government should be yours, we are on the side of the people. The violent overthrow was supported and incited from the outside, and as soon as all this was covered up, everyone fell silent. Have you heard any representative of the European Union condemning October 4? The EU Ambassador is still silent, Brussels is still silent. They limit themselves to general phrases, condemning violence and talking to each other in such general phrases. The Georgian people are interested in a specific answer from the EU Ambassador and from other outspoken ambassadors - do they condemn the violent attack of October 4th and say that it is a crime?” the Speaker said.

“The storming of the presidential residence and other such violent acts are politically motivated crimes, incited and in some cases financed by Brussels, and this has been acknowledged by some non-governmental organisations, including the current head of ISFE, who used EU money to buy equipment to resist the police. They support terrorists who claimed to have bought fireworks to burn down the parliament. Unfortunately, today the violence in Georgia is incited and justified by Brussels”, he concluded.