Parliament Speaker: OSCE must work to repair its own reputation; our cooperation will be only as close as their credibility allows

“It is highly regrettable when the OSCE evades its responsibility. It is precisely this turning of a blind eye to the use of parliamentary assemblies as political weapons that has brought us to this point, where international organisations, and ultimately the rules-based international order itself, have been severely eroded,” the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, told journalists.

According to Papuashvili, by adopting the resolution concerning Georgia, the OSCE has dealt a severe blow to its own reputation in the eyes of the Georgian people.

“They also turned a blind eye to unjust attitudes and the weaponisation of international organisations for political ends, and we have ended up where we are today. Today, wars break out without anyone consulting any organisation, and current global events are not grounded in international law. Therefore, first and foremost, this represents a monumental irresponsibility. Once again, with this resolution and its reaction to it, the OSCE has damaged its standing in the eyes of the Georgian people. The OSCE has a great deal of work to do to restore its reputation in the eyes of our citizens.

Overall, this resolution perfectly illustrates the weaponisation of international organisations for political ends. This is why today, virtually every international organisation has lost its core function; they have become mere appendages where various factions vent their political spleen and impose their own domestic political discourse,” Papuashvili noted.

Regarding the resolution itself, Papuashvili assessed that the OSCE had effectively falsified its own findings through the document.

“One thing is written in the election assessment report, and quite another is written in the resolution. This conclusion by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has shown once again that a parliamentary body of this scale has degraded to the level of Joe Wilson, a run-of-the-mill lobbyist. Thus, this is a resolution completely detached from values, which has fundamentally undermined trust in the OSCE among the Georgian public,” Papuashvili stated.

Papuashvili clarified that whilst the Georgian government remains open to cooperating with everyone, the OSCE must focus on repairing its own standing.

“We maintain this stance towards everyone. We are open to cooperation. However, when they actively damage themselves, we are powerless. When they show the Georgian people that they are under the influence of groups holding hostile and unfriendly attitudes towards Georgia, there is nothing we can do to save them. The OSCE, first and foremost, must take care to mend its own reputation. The extent to which they restore their reputation will dictate how close our cooperation will be. If they continue to damage their standing, why should we have any interest in maintaining close or exceptional relations with people and groups whose sole objective is to harm our nation by any means possible?” Shalva Papuashvili declared.