During the final remarks of a European Parliament debate on Georgia, Lithuanian MEP Rasa Jukneviciene thanked the majority of political groups, “except a few consistently pro-Russian voices,” for backing Georgia’s European future. She expressed hope that the Parliament would adopt the report on Georgia with an absolute majority and called on the European Council and EU member states to advance sanctions against the Georgian regime.
Jukneviciene also appealed to the Danish Presidency of the EU Council to lead efforts among willing countries to pressure the Georgian government into holding new, free, and fair elections, describing this as the only viable path forward for the country.
However, her remarks and the broader report met with sharp criticism from Georgian officials. Davit Matikashvili, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on Procedural Issues, dismissed the debate as political theater, claiming that Jukneviciene was “speaking to herself in an empty chamber.”
“What the public witnessed in the practically empty chamber of the European Parliament is shameful,” Matikashvili said. “Ms. Rasa keeps writing lie after lie and repeats them to herself. These lies have neither legal nor political weight.”
According to Matikashvili, the resolution being discussed received significant criticism from MEPs and failed to reflect the political reality in Georgia. He said it misrepresented the status of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, calling him a “convicted individual” found guilty by both Georgian courts and the European Court of Human Rights.
He further asserted that there is no political persecution in Georgia and that those referred to as political prisoners are in prison due to their own actions. Matikashvili also described former president Salome Zurabishvili as politically irrelevant, claiming she no longer holds legitimate influence.
“The Georgian people do not yield to blackmail,” he concluded. “And that has been made clear not just by the people, but also by Rasa’s own colleagues in the European Parliament.”
By Team GT
