The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament accused the EU of a crisis of civilization and criticized the European Parliament
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili made a series of harsh statements directed at the European Union, declaring that “the EU is heading toward a civilizational abyss” and that “only a facade remains of Europe.”
His speech was one of the harshest during the entire period of conflict between the “Georgian Dream” government and Brussels, according to NGnewsgeorgia.
The statements came amid new signals from the EU regarding the situation in Georgia. In particular, nine Georgian opposition parties received a letter from the European External Action Service noting a “lack of improvements” in the country and the need for a change in political course. At the same time, the EU stated its intention to continue supporting Georgian society, the media, young people, and the process of European integration.
It was precisely the wording about supporting the “Georgian people” that provoked Papuashvili’s outrage. According to him, such rhetoric is “humiliating to Georgia” and resembles treating the country as a “colony” or “indigenous people” who need to be taught state-building.
Papuašvili also stated that, in his view, the modern European Union is moving away from European values and increasingly resembles structures of the past, particularly the Soviet Union. He emphasized that the Georgian government does not see its future in such a union if it loses “true European principles.”
Separately, the speaker criticized the European Parliament, claiming there is a “hostile environment toward the Georgian people” there. According to him, some MEPs were allegedly ready to “send in troops” or “launch missiles” at Georgia under the pretext of defending democracy.
These statements also came amid reports that the largest political groups in the European Parliament had called on EU leadership to investigate the activities of the Georgian TV channel “Imedi,” which is considered loyal to the government. According to the opposition TV channel TV Pirveli, European lawmakers accuse the broadcaster of spreading anti-European narratives and rhetoric similar to Russian disinformation.
Earlier, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili stated that Tbilisi has no intention of ceding its own territories in exchange for European Union membership. According to him, a similar condition was allegedly imposed on Ukraine during discussions of its European integration.
