Parliament Speaker: European Parliament resolutions have become “sources of misinformation and attacks” on Georgia

Papuashvili said there were “too many inaccuracies” in the resolution, and claimed some MEPs were attempting to cause “harm” to Georgia through the documents. Photo: Parliament of Georgia

Agenda.ge, 16 Feb 2023 - 11:23, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said resolutions of the European Parliament on Georgia had become “sources of misinformation and attacks” on the country in what was a “very unfortunate development”.

Papuashvili was commenting on the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on Wednesday, which said Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was “responsible” for the controversial circumstances around the health of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Papuashvili said there were “too many inaccuracies” in the resolution, and claimed some MEPs were attempting to cause “harm” to Georgia through the documents.

“There is a group of European politicians who are trying to harm Georgia in every possible way in order to free Saakashvili. There are too many factual errors in this resolution”, the Parliament Speaker said.

For example, saying that Saakashvili is in prison only for exceeding his powers, when in Gelashvili's case [the 2005 assault on businessman and opposition MP, ordered by the former President] he was sentenced to six years for ‘intentional serious damage to health’”, he added.

“They talk about exceeding powers because they want to show the public that these may be politically motivated crimes”, Papuashvili also alleged.

The Parliament official also stressed Saakashvili's case was a “litmus test”  to see “who is Georgia's friend and who is Saakashvili's friend” in the EP.

Papuashvili’s comments follow remarks by Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who on Wednesday said statements by some members of the European Parliament about Saakashvili were based on “absurdity and misinformation”.