Georgian Parliament Speaker accuses EU of acting as government’s opposition

Georgian Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said the real opposition to the Georgian government was European Union institutions in Brussels, which he accused of attempting to interfere in Georgia’s politics by illegally channeling money into the country.

In his interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Papuashvili noted that external actors were trying to influence Georgia’s political process without the knowledge of the Georgian people.

“In reality, the opposition to the Georgian government today is Brussels. It is directly trying to interfere in politics by illegally bringing money into the country and investing it in political processes so that the Georgian people do not find out”, the speaker said.

The Parliament speaker further referred to controversy surrounding the 2024 parliamentary elections in Georgia, when critics questioned the vote count received by the ruling Georgian Dream party.

According to Papuashvili, opponents had claimed that “300,000 mythical voters” appeared out of nowhere and helped Georgian Dream secure around 1,120,000 votes. He argued that similar allegations did not emerge after the party repeated its electoral result in 2025.

Papuashvili described the criticism of the 2024 elections as a “pre-planned attack on Georgian democracy”, claiming that foreign observers and political actors were involved in efforts to manipulate the assessment of the vote.

He said Georgian officials held discussions with representatives of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and alleged that some international observers were pressured to change their conclusions during the election period.

Papuashvili also accused EU actors of participating in political campaigning against the ruling party and supporting civil society groups that criticized the government.

He argued that such actions amount to interference in the democratic processes of another country.

As the speaker noted that the main interest of these processes was to bring a puppet regime to power.

“What other interest did the actions of the European Union have, which was directly involved in the pre-election campaign, which directly campaigned against the Georgian Dream, personally the EU ambassador? The EU personally financed the campaign against the Georgian Dream”, he added.

Papuashvili claimed that all of this was interference in the democracy of another country.

“We are talking about this when we say that Brussels today is not only out of touch with European values, but in this regard, it already has less connection with European values ​​in general”, he noted.

“In this way, Brussels will lead the European Union to the point where only the name European will remain from it. So, this is a problem and we must accept”, he continued.

The speaker highlighted that in reality they did not have an opposition outside of parliament.

“We have Brussels as the opposition. It is actually the opposition to the Georgian government today, which is directly trying to interfere in politics by violating the law, to bring money and invest in politics without the Georgian people knowing it. It is trying to put pressure on the media and we see resolutions with calls, including against the leadership of [Georgian Public Broadcaster]. This is being done in daylight, by those people who have the European flag hanging on their walls”, Papuashvili added.

“This is what we have received in the 21st century, the European Union that has lost its way in Europe. In reality, this is what it is and we must accept it. One of the main taboos that must be broken is that we imagine Brussels, the European Union, as a sacred cow and the Vatican, where the principle of infallibility operates. This is what they do not want to destroy”, he concluded.