“The resolution, which the European Parliament will adopt today, goes beyond our accustomed to disappointment,” said Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili at the briefing.
According to the Speaker, the EP’s fourth resolution on Georgia adopted since the beginning of the war in Ukraine is based on “false narratives and personal attacks.”
“We remember how we were puzzled when oligarch Davit Kezerashvili was labelled as media manager for the appropriation of 5 million Euro designated for the Georgian army, how we got frustrated when Mikheil Saakashvili’s imprisonment conditions were described with false narratives, and when we smiled with disappointment when we discovered in Foreign Agents Registry that American lobbyists were involved in drafting EP draft resolutions.
However, the resolution that the European Parliament will adopt today, goes beyond our accustomed to disappointment and, in the EU Ambassador’s words, is shameful and disgusting in both its content and spirit.
The message which urges to impose sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, is disturbing. This is the EP’s third resolution, where certain forces utilize EU institutions for Bidzina Ivanishvili’s attacks and political retribution, on the person, whose role and merit are indefinite in preserving peace in Georgia and not becoming the country the place of geopolitical conflict. It seems that the resolution authors realized that their obsessed interest in Bidzina Ivanishvili is unserious and this time mentioned Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
The text on Mikheil Saakashvili is shameful through which the EU, yet another time and with unlawful pressure tries to rescue Mikheil Saakashvili from fair punishment. I remind those MEPs, for whom the support of the resolution is mere statistics, that we speak about the individual, who, as the European Court confirmed, established the torture system in Georgian prisons, closed TV stations and left thousands of people as victims of the system’s tragic outcomes. It is shameful that Georgian people continue to watch these European politicians for 20 years, who covered Saakashvili’s crimes and now attempt to rescue him from jail unconditionally.
It is disgusting to openly demand the imposition of bilateral sanctions on Russia in the EU’s first official resolution. However, it is good that it is finally openly fixed since the resolution authors previously avoided or rejected to speak about sanctions publicly. This resolution made it clear to the Georgian population that the Georgian government had been under pressure for a long time, and this was what certain actors insisted on behind doors for 2.5 years.
The society has to know that Georgia’s imposition of bilateral sanctions will not harm Russia. On the contrary, if our government met this or other requirements, Georgia and the Georgian people would fall into the guaranteed economic collapse and face the risk of military confrontation.
The resolution where representatives of countries protected under the EU and NATO security umbrella voiced remands and demanded escalation from Georgia, which is neither shielded by the EU nor NATO, clearly demonstrates how they care about the Georgian people’s fate.
The resolution’s initiation by certain EU groups several days before the elections is an attempt to shape the voters’ will that categorically contradicts our common European values.
Yesterday’s discussion also showed that fortunately common sense can be found in the EU that gradually and with time will stop the trend diverted from European values trajectory. I want to thank these people for the correct assessments and support for the Georgian people.
Finally, once again, I want to call on all foreign actors to respect the sovereign right to hold elections free of foreign influence which is the fundamental principle of the rules-based international order.
My firm expectation is that the European Parliament will respect the choice made by the Georgian people on October 26, and I urge the opposition and EU-financed organizations to accept the Georgian people’s choice as the verdict of democracy,” the Speaker concluded.
Fourteen members of the European Parliament have prepared a draft resolution on Georgia, which, among other demands, calls for sanctions against Russia, sanctioning Ivanishvili and other individuals, the release of Saakashvili, and the repeal of the law on family values. The draft is titled “On the backsliding of democracy and threats to political pluralism in Georgia.”
