Parliament Speaker says EU Commissioner’s mention of Slovak PM shooting as “possible scenario” in Tbilisi protests “completely astonishing”

Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker on Thursday said the mention by Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, of the shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico last month in his conversation with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as a “possible scenario” of development of protests in Tbilisi against a controversial law on transparency of foreign influence was “completely astonishing”.

The comment came after Kobakhidze last month claimed that in his phone call with Várhelyi, the European Commissioner had “listed a number of measures” Western politicians might take if the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto on the law was overcome by the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Kobakhidze claimed Várhelyi had made the comment while adding “you've seen what happened to Fico and you should be very careful”. He also stressed it was “extremely disturbing” to see the “terrorist attack” on the Slovak PM, who was still undergoing treatment, being mentioned “in a context of blackmail” related to the law.

Papuashvili said “extremism” in the EU official’s comment was a “likely normal scenario  of development”, adding it was  “politically unjustifiable” to present the alleged development “as a possible scenario in a conversation between senior officials”. 

“The fact that these words and an example of an extremist act [of the shooting of Fico] were mentioned in the conversation was confirmed by the European Commissioner himself. How do you imagine that a force that will go to extremism can be called pro-European?”, the lawmaker asked.

“This is exactly how it turned out, that the case of PM Fico was named as one of the likely, possible scenarios of development, which is an extremist, terrorist act among them. It concerns a high-ranking official, and bringing such a terrorist act as a possible development scenario is completely astonishing. That is why the European Commissioner had to make an explanation [on the remark]", Papuashvili added.

Várhelyi last month commented on Kobakhidze’s original remark about the conversation, expressing “very sincere regret” that a “certain part” of the call had been “taken out of context”.

The EU official said he had “felt the need” to call the attention of the Georgian PM to the importance of “not inflaming the already fragile situation further” by adopting the law, which he said could lead to “further polarisation and to possible uncontrolled situations on the streets of Tbilisi”.

He also added “in this regard, the latest tragic event in Slovakia was made as an example and as a reference to where such high level of polarisation can lead in a society even in Europe”.