As the European Parliament is due to adopt a resolution on Georgia today, October 9, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, slammed the draft resolution, which surfaced in media, calling it “outrageous,” “shameful,” and “disgusting.”
The Speaker’s scorn was particularly directed at the draft resolution’s calls for sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili and calls for the release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili. He also slammed calls on Georgia to impose sanctions on Russia.
Call to Sanction Bidzina Ivanishvili “Outrageous”
“The provision of the resolution calling for the imposition of sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili is outrageous,” Shalva Papuashvili said, accusing “certain forces,” he did not specify, of using EU institutions to attack Bidzina Ivanishvili and seeking personal political retribution against him.
Shielding his patron, Papuashvili said Ivanishvili’s role has been “decisive” in maintaining years of peace in Georgia and preventing the country from becoming a place of geopolitical confrontation. Papuashvili added that the authors of the draft resolution have an “obsessive interest” in Bidzina Ivanishvili and that this interest has already become unserious; he also noted that this time the resolution personally mentions Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
The European Parliament’s draft resolution expresses concern about the promise by Ivanishvili and other GD leaders, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, to ban the opposition after the elections. The text calls Bidzina Ivanishvili an “oligarch” and deplores his personal role in Georgia’s current political crisis and in undermining the country’s Euro-Atlantic path in favor of a pivot towards Russia. It calls on the European Council and the EU’s democratic partners “to impose immediate and targeted personal sanctions” on Ivanishvili for his role in the deterioration of the political process in Georgia. The draft resolution also calls on the EU and the bloc’s member states to impose personal sanctions against all those “responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia,” welcoming the U.S. sanctions against GD officials.
Call to Release Mikheil Saakashvili “Shameful”
“The provision of the resolution on Mikheil Saakashvili is a shameful one, with which the official institution of the EU is once again trying to use illegal pressure to save Mikheil Saakashvili from just punishment,” Papuashvili said.
He noted that Mikheil Saakashvili had created the “system of torture” in Georgia’s prisons and “shut down” or take over the media when he was in power. He said it is “shameful” that the Georgian people have to watch “these European politicians”, without mentioning anyone in particular, “for years covering up” Saakashvili’s actions when he was in office and now trying to free him from a legitimate punishment.
The draft resolution “strongly reiterates” its urgent demand for the “immediate” and “unconditional” release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili to allow him to seek medical treatment abroad. The text also emphasizes that the current Georgian government bears “full” and “undeniable” responsibility for Saakashvili’s dire condition and his safety.
Call to Impose Sanctions on Russia “Disgusting”
“The resolution’s demand for Georgia to impose bilateral sanctions on Russia is disgusting,” the spokesman said. He said it is “scandalous” that the request to impose sanctions on Russia has been openly stated in the official document, but, he added, it is “good” that it has “finally revealed” the true intentions [of EU] for some people.
He added that Georgia’s imposition of sanctions against Russia “cannot harm Russia” and that if the GD government had imposed sanctions against Russia, “we would definitely have brought our country and our people to economic collapse and most likely put them at risk of military confrontation.” Papuashvili added that Georgia is not protected by the EU or NATO, and sarcastically noted that the MEPs’ call for “extreme aggravation” of relations with Russia “shows very well how much they care about the fate of Georgians, whom they mention so often in the resolution.”
The draft resolution expresses “deep concern” over Russia’s growing influence in Georgia and calls on the Georgian government to impose sanctions against Russia in response to its war of aggression against Ukraine. It calls on the Georgian government to fully align itself with the EU’s foreign policy and the bloc’s strategy towards Russia.
Another Complaint of Foreign Interference
Papuashvili also claimed that the initiation of such a resolution by the MEPs just before the Georgian parliamentary elections was their attempt to influence the will of the Georgian voters, which he said was fundamentally at odds with European values.
He called to respect Georgia’s sovereign right to hold elections without interference. “I strongly expect that the European Parliament will respect the choice of the Georgian people on October 26, and that it will also call on the opposition and EU-funded organizations to accept the choice of the Georgian people as the verdict of democracy,” Papuashvili concluded.
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