“We are observing a crisis of political elites, but I hope that the appalling rhetoric toward Georgia will end soon and the world agenda will return to rational frameworks,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili wrote on Facebook.

According to the Speaker, he follows the developments in the European Parliament, the ongoing presidential campaign in the US, and general radicalism trends globally.

“When electing the chairman of the French parliament, the youngest MP is privileged to stand at the ballot box. The parliamentary tradition and collegial ethics are that following casting their ballots, the MPs shake hands with the ballot box guard. This time, a 22-year member of Marine Le Pen’s party had this honor but representatives of the opposition flank did not shake hands with him.

Besides this scene, yesterday I watched the skirmish in the European Parliament, the vicissitudes of the ongoing US presidential campaign, the French presidential election rhetoric, the general trends of radicalization across Europe and I remember the strict tone of foreign politicians, bureaucrats and diplomats about polarization in Georgia that makes us feel as inferior and failed society.

To put it mildly, according to the biblical proverb, “First cast out the beam from your eye, and then you will see clearly to cast out the splinter from the eye of your brother.” If we go deep, we are observing a crisis of political elites that is regrettable, but I hope that the appalling rhetoric towards Georgia, preconditioned by this crisis, will end soon and the world agenda will return to rational frameworks,” he wrote.