Speaker: Brussels violates international law, damages its reputation by using punitive blackmail against Georgia

“Brussels has essentially acknowledged in its letter that the visa suspension for diplomatic and service passports was a violation of international law and agreements,” Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili declared.

According to his explanation, the letter indicates that the European Commission issued the recommendation to introduce visa requirements for diplomatic passports because it was checking compliance regarding ordinary passports, meaning there is no connection whatsoever between the visa liberalisation decision and the visa-free regime for diplomatic passports.

“Brussels is telling us to say that the Earth is flat or to say that a man can become a woman. Brussels is telling us that our sovereignty means nothing. Our struggle for independence means nothing, and Brussels should decide what to finance and how, without our society knowing. This is what they’re telling us. They were leading exactly toward having all this legally reinforced, and this legislation blocked exactly that. Go look at Europe, where men become women,” Shalva Papuashvili declared.

According to him, Brussels is attempting to impose false and deceptive ideologies on other societies.

“The Brussels bureaucracy has strayed from core European values. For a long time, we have been calling for a return to respect for human rights, the rule of law, and the fundamental ideas that underpin this Union. Brussels has deviated from the very bedrock on which the European Union was founded—European values. This is a call to reaffirm those principles and to recognise that the Earth is round, not flat.

Brussels is presenting us with a false dilemma: suggesting that we must choose between visa-free travel or claim that the Earth is flat. This is a misleading choice orchestrated by Brussels. There is no correlation between European values and the European Union’s actions, which should be grounded in principles of truth and integrity,” stated the Speaker of the Parliament.

When asked what Georgian citizens would choose – the laws you’ve adopted or visa-free travel – Shalva Papuashvili responds that “this is exactly what’s called a false dilemma.”

“They used to present us with false dilemmas—one example being their tactics regarding Saakashvili, implying dire consequences if he were to die. This is a form of blackmail. The essence of blackmail lies in framing situations as impossible choices. For instance, when Khoshtaria began her hunger strike, she declared, “I’ll take my own life if nothing changes.” Such tactics involve posing false dilemmas, as if the matter is a life-and-death crisis when, in reality, there is no such urgency,” stated Shalva Papuashvili.

According to him, Brussels’s letter has essentially acknowledged that the visa suspension for diplomatic and service passports was a violation of international law and agreements.

“The letter indicates that the European Commission issued the recommendation to introduce visa requirements for diplomatic passports because it was checking compliance regarding ordinary passports. There is no connection between ordinary passports—specifically the visa liberalisation decision—and the visa-free regime for diplomatic passports. Diplomatic passports are based on the 2010 agreement, while the other is based on the general decision regarding Georgian citizens’ passports. With this letter, the European Union has acknowledged that it violated international law and the 2010 international agreement. Essentially, the European Union, through Brussels, is violating international law. This damages its own reputation and presents it on the world stage as a violator of international law, using this as a tool of punishment and blackmail against Georgia,” Shalva Papuashvili declared.