Georgian PM questions EU leaders over violence in Copenhagen, says current developments raise risk of Europe becoming “model of disregard and gross violation of values”

Georgian prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday sent an open letter to the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council president Antonio Costa and European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, questioning their assessment of the violence against peaceful demonstrators in Copenhagen and warning that current developments risk turning Europe into a “model of disregard and gross violation of values”.

“Dear Ursula, Antonio and Roberta, we address you, as representatives of the highest institutions of the European Union, with the following question - how do you assess the violence that unfolded in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, where participants of a peaceful demonstration were first beaten with batons and then attacked using police dogs?” he said.

“The shocking footage, showing police brutally dispersing peaceful demonstrators, clearly revealed a disturbing reality to the international community - whereas for years Europe had been regarded as a benchmark for the protection of democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and expression, as well as other fundamental values, today an opposite trend is becoming increasingly evident”, the PM continued.

Kobakhidze further added that the current situation raises the risk that Europe may become a benchmark not for the protection of these values, but for their disregard and gross violation.

“For Georgia, as for any country committed to democratic values, both the violence we witnessed in Copenhagen and the fact that the European Union no longer upholds the fundamental principles upon which it was founded are categorically unacceptable”, he noted.

“In light of all this, questions naturally arise for you, including whether such violent actions are compatible with the standards of democracy and human rights to which the European Union constantly emphasizes its commitment and toward which countries around the world have long aspired”, Kobakhidze concluded.