“The fact that the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly session is being held in the South Caucasus region without the participation of Azerbaijan and Georgia demonstrates that something is wrong with the European Parliament’s conduct. We have no intention of participating in this farce,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told journalists.
“Euronest is a platform for cooperation and dialogue between the European Parliament (EP) and the countries of the Eastern Partnership, aimed at discussing various issues between the European Parliament and the parliaments of these countries. The fact that only two Eastern Partnership countries, Armenia, the host nation, and Ukraine, will be represented at this Euronest meeting suggests that the European Parliament has not handled matters as effectively as it should have. This includes the fact that the event is taking place in the South Caucasus region, yet two South Caucasus countries, Azerbaijan and Georgia, are not participating in this meeting. This alone demonstrates that their conduct is incorrect,” noted Papuashvili.
Moreover, regarding the politicians invited to the Euronest meeting, as Papuashvili pointed out, in reality they’ve invited members of the United National Movement, Lelo, European Georgia and Droa parties under the guise of “NGO representatives”.
“To our knowledge, nearly all of the invited individuals are party members, Bokuchava and others. Therefore, we are certainly dealing with an outright lie, as they now have representatives of the UNM party invited under the NGO quota. In reality, the European Parliament’s side of Euronest is signalling to Georgians who they consider to be Georgia’s true representatives. They regard the United National Movement as Georgia’s legitimate representatives.
Specific individuals stand behind this; Rasa Juknevičienė and her hostile attitude towards the Georgian people are well known. It is no surprise that Rasa Juknevičienė, who is allied with the United National Movement, invites the UNM to Euronest under the pretence of ‘NGO representatives’; a move that is quite shameful,” stated Papuashvili.
According to him, it is evident that these influences, these post-Soviet and post-communist tendencies within the European Parliament, are plainly visible.
“It’s being held in the South Caucasus region, yet Georgia isn’t attending, and Azerbaijan isn’t attending. This, too, shows that something is wrong with their conduct. We have no intention of participating in this farce. That hostile rhetoric which certain MEPs, who are in Euronest’s leadership, hold towards the Georgian people, hostile rhetoric towards the government elected by the Georgian people, naturally, we cannot legitimise this rhetoric. This includes that we cannot participate in a farce when they have Bokuchava, Gegelia and similar politicians dressed up as ‘NGO representatives’.
A meeting is taking place under the auspices of Euronest in the South Caucasus region, which Azerbaijan and Georgia are not attending. I believe that Euronest is increasingly isolating itself from the Eastern Partnership and is attempting to develop a regional policy that aligns with its own political preferences. Since Mikheil Saakashvili and the United National Movement are regarded as demigods by Rasa Juknevičienė, their regional policy must be centred around this belief, which is unfortunate.
It is no surprise that Rasa Juknevičienė, Gorbachev’s comrade-in-arms, behaves in this manner. We have long been witnessing Soviet-style tactics within the European Parliament; as you can see, the influence of post-Soviet and post-communist countries persists, countries that, for some reason, believe they should act as guardians over the Georgian people.
I don’t know why they think this way. However, it’s clear that this influence, these post-Soviet and post-communist tendencies in the European Parliament, are plain to see,” Shalva Papuashvili stated.
For context, the Chairman of the European Integration Committee of Georgia’s Parliament, Levan Makashvili, addressed the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in an open letter, noting that the Georgian Parliament’s delegation had refrained from participating in the 12th plenary session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in Yerevan. As Makashvili explained, recent actions by the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly raise serious concerns due to their inconsistency with the fundamental principles and objectives of the Assembly’s founding act and the Joint Declaration of the Prague Summit of the Eastern Partnership.
