The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party officials refused to meet with the delegation of senior MPs representing eight EU countries and reacted with disdain to their November 11 visit to Tbilisi, which they claimed was aimed mainly at supporting the opposition and therefore constituted interference in the country’s internal affairs.
The one-day visit by senior MPs from Germany, France, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Finland came weeks after the October 26 elections, which are widely believed to have been marred by serious violations and have been called for investigation by both local and international actors.
Just as their meetings were about to begin, first with the President of Georgia, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili published a lengthy post on social media saying that the ruling party would not meet with the European parliamentarians accusing “some members” of the delegation of “personal hostilities” against the Georgian government and society, as well as alleged “political partisanship” and “public campaigning” against the GD and in support of the opposition during the pre-election period.
Other GD leaders, both senior government officials and MPs, predictably followed Papuashvili’s example.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who was in Baku for the UN Climate Change Conference while the European delegation was in Tbilisi, said that “unfortunately, the spirit of the visit does not serve the national interests of our country”. He accused “some members” of the delegation of meddling in the Georgian election campaign and violating election principles, noting that this was the reason why the GD government had refused to meet with them. Criticizing the European MPs, he said: “This is not the attitude that a European politician should have towards a sovereign country.”
“I have listened to the speaker’s statement and I fully agree with his pathos,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ilia Darchiashvili from Baku, Azerbaijan. “I am sure that our partners will understand and become convinced of the fact that this kind of intervention, this kind of biased attitude and disrespect that we often see and hear, is unacceptable to us,” he added. Darchiashvili also said that Georgia is ready for “constructive” and not ” biased” dialogue.
Although not specifically mentioning the delegation, Maka Botchorishvili, Chair of the parliamentary committee on EU integration, wrote on social media: “Certain groups in Georgia, acting in the name of the opposition and their instigators, are asking to urgently invent such an “international” mechanism that will make the Georgian Dream – which was elected by the Georgian people- to pass on the power to them… If there is any common sense left, these people need help.” Her post came following the delegation’s meeting with President Zurabishvili and their joint press conference, and after the meeting with the opposition.
GD General Secretary and Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze was particularly scathing, calling the senior EU parliamentarians “idlers” who, in his view, have no work other than roaming from country to country. Accusing them of “propaganda of lies,” Kaladze said: “These people do not respect our statehood and the Georgian people. Their statements, actions, nothing has any value.”
GD MP Irakli Zarkua, who is infamous for his mockery and derogatory statements against Georgia’s Western partners, sometimes with foreign languages inserts, warned, “Don’t let me call Donald Trump! These [collective] Žygimantas(es) and Roth(s), go to your countries and take care of them, if they [even] need you.” Zarkua said the aim of the delegation’s visit was to support “those without a motherland,” referring personally to several opposition leaders.
“Yesterday we fully witnessed lies, a desire to subjugate [us], calls for unrest; and a myriad of Judas kisses presented as love for the Georgians. All this in the name of Europe,” Speaker Papuashvili additionally reacted to the European MPs’ delegation visit.
This is not the first time that Georgian Dream and the government have denied meetings with the country’s Western partners.
Michael Roth, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, who was part of yesterday’s delegation, was also denied meetings with the government during his previous visit in the pre-election period on September 16 and 17.
Earlier, on September 4-6, when the Bundestag delegation visited Georgia, they said that GD government officials “did not have time” to meet with them and that only Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament, made time for the meeting. Meanwhile, other government officials, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, attended the graduation ceremony of students at the Kutaisi International University in western Georgia, founded by billionaire GD patron Bidzina Ivanishvili.
“It’s very Soviet,” Žygimantas Pavilionis, a member of the Lithuanian parliament, said yesterday, when asked to comment on Speaker Papuashvili’s statement and the GD’s refusal to meet with the delegation. “I noticed that tendency already three of four years ago: whoever is criticizing Georgian government, he has no meetings,” he added.
NOTE: This news story was updated at 14:00 on November 12 to include Speaker Papuashvili’s comment the day after the delegation’s visit.