Georgian Parliament Speaker slams European Parliament as “reincarnation” of Soviet-era Congress of People’s Deputies

Georgian Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday sharply criticised the European Parliament, describing it as a “reincarnation” of the Soviet-era Congress of People’s Deputies.

Speaking to Georgian journalists in Montenegro in response to a recent European Parliament resolution, Papuashvili said that Georgia and the European Parliament now stand on “two fundamentally different value poles”.

“In the form of the European Parliament, we are seeing a reincarnation of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Soviet Union - in the full sense of the word. In its aesthetics, in its rhetoric, and in everything else, it is an absolute reincarnation. Everything - the aesthetics, Rasa Juknevičienė’s Russian accent, everything. It is already an absolutely complete reincarnation of the Congress of People's Deputies, whereas we think in a European way. We think like a democratic country. So, there is a gap in values between us”, the speaker said.

He further argued that dialogue with the European Parliament is becoming increasingly difficult, claiming that the institution reflects a “value confusion” that is incompatible with Georgian values.

“We have nothing in common, and never can have anything in common, with that value confusion currently happening in the European Parliament, which is at odds with Georgian values. This EU institution must change qualitatively so that the Parliament of Georgia and Georgia itself can have any kind of relationship with it. The Georgian people have nothing in common with individuals possessing a Soviet mentality, comrades of Gorbachev, and people distinguished by their fascist statements”, he concluded.