It was another shameful disinformation campaign carried out by the opposition for a year and a half, claiming that Russia was using Georgia for circumvention of sanctions, said Georgian Parliament Speaker, Shalva Papuashvili, while presenting the 2023 report.

Papuashvili labelled it as another shameful example of disinformation against national interests. He noted that this campaign, along with the election fraud campaign, was intended to damage Georgia’s international reputation.

“I will refrain from providing specific examples, as we are all familiar with the participants and the extent of this campaign, which has significantly harmed Georgia’s international reputation. Although our strategic partners eventually confirmed unequivocally that Georgia has never violated sanctions imposed against Russia, a perception persisted, akin to the election fraud campaign. It created a sense that Georgia was falling short in some way. Once again, both internationally and within Georgia, many were left with a negative impression. The primary objective of the disinformation campaign has been accomplished. In their pursuit of power, the opposition ended up causing harm to their own country,” the Speaker stated.

He continued, “Over the past two years, we have witnessed the imposition of various sanctions on Russia. The content of these sanctions, particularly the issue of exceptions, has become the subject of extensive deliberations among EU member states, which is understandable. All member states aim to avoid imposing sanctions that would damage their security or economic interests more than Russia’s. Georgia, as a non-member of the European Union, does not partake in these discussions. Therefore, unlike EU member states, the security and economic interests of Georgia are not taken into account when imposing sanctions. Nonetheless, despite our non-participation in decision-making, our special solidarity with the Ukrainian people led us to ensure that the territory of Georgia is not used to circumvent international sanctions. As always, we diligently fulfil our obligations”.