Georgian Parliament Speaker slams “outrageous, shameful, disgusting” EP resolution, “attacks” on ruling party Honorary Chair

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday condemned what he called an “outrageous, shameful, and disgusting” European Parliament draft resolution on Georgia which last week highlighted “democratic backsliding and threats to political pluralism in Georgia”, and claimed “particular forces” were using official European Union institutions to “attack” Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Honorary Chair and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party. 

During a briefing at the GD office in Tbilisi, the official stressed the EP planned to adopt the document - proposed by 14 MEPs earlier this month - later on Thursday, and used the words of Pawel Herczynski, the EU Ambassador to Georgia, who had described the ruling party's election banners featuring images from the Ukraine war as “outrageous, shameful, and disgusting”, to characterise the resolution.

The draft resolution includes demands for sanctioning Ivanishvili and other officials, securing release of Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former President of Georgia, and a recall of the controversial law on “family values and protection of minors”, adopted in September by the country’s Parliament. 

In his comments, the Parliament Speaker said the “Georgian people” had “already come to terms with the fact that the recent EP resolutions are characterised by personal attacks and attempts to establish false narratives”, but claiming the latest document “significantly exceeds this familiar disappointment”.

We remember how we were surprised when the oligarch David Kezerashvili [the wanted former Defence Minister under the previous United National Movement Government] who embezzled five million euros belonging to the Georgian army, was presented as a ‘media manager’, how we got angry when we read the false narrative regarding the conditions of Mikheil Saakashvili's placement in the penitentiary institution [in 2023], how disappointed we were when we found out [in 2023] in the US register of foreign agents that American lobbyists were involved in the development of draft resolutions of the EP”, he said.

“However, the resolution that the EP will adopt today significantly exceeds our accustomed disappointment. Both in spirit and content, to use the words of the EU ambassador to Georgia, it is outrageous, shameful, and disgusting”, Papuashvili said. 

Speaking about Ivanishvili, the Speaker stressed the proposed document marked the third EP resolution, where “certain forces misuse official EU institutions to target Ivanishvili for personal political revenge”. 

He claimed the Honorary Chair’s “contributions” had been “crucial in ensuring that Georgia, despite being surrounded by conflict, has maintained peace for years and avoided becoming a site of geopolitical turmoil”, adding “it seems the authors of this resolution recognise that their fixation on Ivanishvili is losing credibility, as this time they chose to directly mention Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze”. 

Reacting to the record on Saakashvili, the official highlighted “it is shameful the official institution of the EU attempts to release Saakashvili from his rightful punishment through illegal pressure”. 

He further noted "It is disgraceful that for 20 years, the Georgian people have had to witness European politicians first cover up the crimes of Saakashvili when he was in power [between 2004-2012], and now, using European institutions, they are trying to unconditionally free him from his deserved punishment”. 

In response to the line in the draft that called for Georgia to impose sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine in 2022, the Parliament Speaker called the call “disgusting”. 

He further stressed “it is scandalous this is the first official public document of the EU openly stating Georgia's obligation to impose sanctions on Russia. However, it is at least good that the public now knows what some authors of similar requests avoided saying publicly and even denied in public”.

The fact that representatives of countries protected by the security umbrellas of the EU and NATO are demanding extreme escalation in Georgia's relations with Russia clearly shows how little they care about the fate of the Georgian people”, Papuashvili said, noting the imposition of bilateral sanctions by Georgia would “not harm Russia in any significant way”. 

“If our Government had followed such demands, we would have risked plunging our country into economic collapse and even the threat of military confrontation”, the Parliament Speaker claimed.

In conclusion, Papuashvili alleged the introduction of the resolution by “individual groups” within the EP ahead of the October 26 general elections in Georgia was a “clear attempt to influence voter decision-making, which is fundamentally opposed to our shared European values”. 

The official reaffirmed his earlier calls to “all foreign actors” to “respect our sovereign right to hold elections free from external interference, as this is a fundamental principle of the rules-based international order”.