MP Levan Machavariani: Georgians know best that oppression ended with the previous regime

“EU officials consistently fail to substantiate their sweeping statements with hard facts or evidence,” parliamentary majority MP Levan Machavariani stated.

Machavariani emphasised that Georgian citizens themselves are best placed to judge the true state of human rights protections in their country.

The MP made these remarks in response to a statement by the EU’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, who urged Georgia to “repeal or substantially revise recent legislation” while condemning alleged “arbitrary arrests and increasing repression targeting opposition leaders, independent journalists, media workers, and civil society actors.”

“This gentleman is simply parroting the same narrative that was set in motion from the very day Russia launched its aggression against Ukraine, talking of democratic backsliding and the like. Yet the moment you ask for concrete facts and evidence, they fall completely silent.

By and large, our own citizens feel most directly how human rights are genuinely protected on the ground. The Georgian public is far better informed than anyone else that oppression does not exist in Georgia today, in stark contrast to the era of the previous regime, when human rights in our country were trampled on in every conceivable manner,” stated Levan Machavariani.