Georgian Parliament Speaker: Unionist Brussels is directly, step-by-step replacing Soviet Moscow

Georgian Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday sharply criticised what he described as an ongoing campaign against Georgia and Georgian media, accusing specific European politicians of leading efforts aimed at undermining Georgia’s sovereignty and restricting free speech.

Papuashvili specifically named Lithuanian MEP Rasa Juknevičienė and Polish politician Michał Brejza as key figures behind what he called attacks on Georgia.

“We should look at the names and faces. At the forefront of this campaign against Georgia we see Rasa Juknevičienė, known for her fascist statements, and we see the European Parliament’s new rising star, Brejza, who is a member of Sikorski’s party. This is the same Sikorski who recently founded a propaganda channel called “Vot Tak”. It was founded by the Polish ministry of foreign affairs, it is a direct propaganda tool against Georgia - it started attacking the Church, the interests of Georgia, that is, it is a propaganda weapon of Poland”, the speaker said.

Papuashvili described the developments as “another hostile act” against Georgia and claimed the campaign aims to suppress freedom of speech in the country.

The speaker further argued that the current state of the European Union is represented by politicians such as Juknevičienė and others with similar views.

“Today, the European Union is represented by people like Rasa Juknevičienė. We are fighting for the EU to return to its founding values, because otherwise Georgia has no place in such a union. How could we possibly have anything in common with Rasa Juknevičienė’s European Union? [...] This must be corrected - until the European Union is freed from such individuals who attempt to undermine the sovereignty of other countries, act with hatred toward people, and try to attack other nations, we cannot be convinced that being part of such a Union would bring any benefit to our country. We cannot be where there are people filled with hatred toward the Georgian people. We see that Unionist Brussels is directly, step-by-step, replacing Soviet Moscow. Even the aesthetics are the same. After April 9, 1989, when the Congress of People's Deputies was held, the attacks launched against the Georgian people in Moscow during that congress are exactly what is happening today in Brussels. They are a reincarnation of the Soviet Union, right down to the names. Ms. Rasa Juknevičienė was a comrade-in-arms of Gorbachev, and even today, she speaks English with a Russian accent”, he concluded.