Georgian Parliament official says European Parliament destroying its own reputation to fuel radical opposition in Georgia

Levan Machavariani, the first deputy chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party faction in the legislative body, on Friday criticised the latest European Parliament resolution on Georgia, saying members of the European Parliament were damaging their own credibility in order to support Georgia’s “radical opposition.”

In his interview with Imedi TV, Machavariani noted that similar resolutions have been repeatedly adopted and contain what he described as inaccurate and exaggerated claims.

“How many resolutions have they adopted already? And in every resolution there are a thousand absurdities written, including claims that Saakashvili is a political prisoner, that he is supposedly dying. Saakashvili himself no longer raises complaints about his health condition, yet they still write it in the resolution”, he said.

The official argued that any rational observer could see these documents as nonsense.

“Anyone who thinks rationally clearly understands that all of this is nonsense. They are destroying their own reputation in order to provide fuel to the radical opposition, so that they can convince their voters that they are not lying and that the Eurocrats think the same”, Machavariani concluded.

The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution by majority vote calling on the Georgian authorities to release journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, who was convicted for assaulting a police officer, and opposition politician Elene Khoshtaria, who faces charges related to hostile activities and sabotage against the state. The resolution was supported by 438 members of the European Parliament.