“We have discovered that the European Parliament operates under stricter rules than the Georgian Parliament. So we shall certainly be giving thought to whether corresponding amendments ought to be introduced to our own accreditation rules,” declared Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili.

According to Papuashvili, “we must understand what hypocrisy reigns in the European Parliament, in Brussels, and amongst the hypocrites sitting in the EU Embassy, the very people who criticised the Georgian Parliament for attempting to establish the most basic rules for media conduct within its own chambers.”

“The European Union spent hundreds of thousands of euros blackening the name of the Georgian Parliament, setting various NGOs upon us, the so-called media ombudsmen, the journalists’ ethics charter. Thousands, tens of thousands of euros were poured into damaging our Parliament’s reputation. It was precisely over accreditation rules that the Georgian Parliament came under attack. To this day, a lawsuit remains pending before the Constitutional Court, funded by the EU Embassy and the European Parliament, claiming that the introduction of accreditation rules and the establishment of basic standards somehow undermine media freedom.

And what have we discovered? It turns out that the European Parliament operates under considerably stricter rules than the Georgian Parliament. Specifically, one of our rules in the Georgian Parliament is that if a respondent declines to give an interview, the journalist may try it, but must cease the interview immediately if the respondent requests it. In the European Parliament, it transpires, prior consent from the respondent is required before any interview may commence. Interesting, we shall give that some thought.

Secondly, when a rule is broken in Georgia, we have a sanction. The sanction entails a one-month suspension of accreditation, with a six-month suspension imposed if the offence is repeated. How long was Imedi’s accreditation suspended for? One year. Very well, we shall give that some thought too.

I intend to consider whether corresponding amendments should be introduced to our accreditation rules, requiring prior consent to be obtained from respondents before an interview begins, if that is indeed the rule in the European Parliament and if that is what constitutes European practice. Secure respondents’ consent before beginning the interview; at our organisation, the first violation results in a one-month suspension, while the second leads to a six-month suspension. In the European Parliament, the very first offence carries a one-year suspension. So we shall most certainly be giving that some thought.

There is a fine word for it – hypocrisy. You must understand what hypocrisy reigns in the European Parliament, in Brussels, amongst the hypocrites sitting in the EU Embassy, the very people who criticised the Georgian Parliament, who made it a target of attack, for attempting to establish the most basic rules for media conduct within its chambers; rules which, as it turns out, are ten times more lenient than those of the European Parliament.

How did these people dare to attack the Georgian Parliament? Where are those media ombudsmen now, those NGOs, those ethics charters, and all the rest of it? It has now emerged that Brussels hired these NGOs to attack the Georgian Parliament; they were paid to level false accusations.

Today, they will not utter a word, because they will not speak out against the very hand that employs them, that feeds them, that pays them. Very well, we have taken note of the rules governing the European Parliament’s operations. I have, incidentally, requested and carefully examined those rules. Our own rules are the most lenient of all. You have now seen what the European Parliament’s rules actually look like. We shall most certainly be giving thought to whether those exact same rules should or should not be extended to our own Parliament as well,” Papuashvili declared.

For context, the European Parliament has suspended the accreditation of broadcasters Imedi, Rustavi 2, and PosTV for one year.