Shalva Papuashvili: Had we listened to the EU Ambassador, no one in Georgia would be dancing today

“We saw the EU Ambassador dancing. It’s wonderful that the Ambassador has the opportunity to dance in Georgia, and it is equally good that our society is in the mood and has the chance to enjoy themselves,” said the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

Journalists questioned Papuashvili about “Europe Day 2026”, which was celebrated in Kakheti.

“I hope the EU Ambassador realised, at least by the following day, that if we had listened to him and his leadership, no one would be in the mood for dancing today. Georgia would now be an economically ruined country. Georgia would be a war-torn nation today if we had listened to [Pawel] Herczynski personally and his bosses. We don’t expect a thank you from him—we don’t want one—but I hope he understands that his opportunity to dance and have fun is thanks to the Georgian government ignoring him and his superiors, and acting instead in the interests of our country and its people. So, long may he enjoy his dancing and celebration. We aren’t asking for gratitude; we just want him to realise that if we had followed his advice, no one in Georgia would be dancing today, and the EU Ambassador himself probably wouldn’t even be here. He would have been evacuated, as all the embassies pulled out of Kyiv. The only one who stayed until the very end was the Georgian Ambassador, whom [President] Zelenskyy later expelled from his country,” Papuashvili stated.

He added that the EU Ambassador has turned Europe Day into a festival of European hatred.

“What I am seeing through this series of so-called Europe Day events, which have been running for the last two or three years, is nothing short of a political rally. We can see that the EU Embassy organises these days, completely bypassing the Georgian government. They don’t even invite the authorities, acting as if they are in some ungoverned territory. In reality, this has turned into a festival of European hatred. You will remember that during the first instance, back in May 2024, we saw attacks on journalists at Europe Day. Then we saw that [Tamar] Kordzaia, who insults the Georgian people, was invited as a speaker. And now we have seen that followers of Mikheil Saakashvili, who also insult the Georgian people, were invited as musical performers. All of this shows that the EU Embassy has dragged things down to such a level that they have turned Europe Day into a festival of European hatred; one that serves as a platform for vitriol every single time.

Furthermore, the EU Ambassador’s speeches are purely political stunts aimed at the government, designed to turn public sentiment against the authorities. Added to this is the bonus of the hatred they are sowing through these events. So, my ‘congratulations’ to the EU Ambassador for turning Europe Day into a festival of European hatred. I do not know if he intends to continue with these festivals of European hatred, but given how stubbornly he behaves, I am certain he will come up with something similar. He is shamelessly trying to flaunt the very people who insult the Georgian public and sow division right in their faces. Unfortunately, this shows that we are dealing with a political actor rather than a diplomatic mission. This is a direct violation of the Vienna Convention, something [Pawel] Herczynski has done time and again,” Shalva Papuashvili stated.