Speaking to journalists this week, Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili sharply criticized the European Union’s role in Georgia, linking it to societal discord and even violence.
“Where there is violence, the EU flag flies; where there is hatred, the EU flag flies,” Papuashvili said, responding to a statement from former President Mikheil Saakashvili that Georgia “will soon celebrate Christmas on December 25, rather than January 7, as ‘the majority of Christian countries’ do.”
According to Papuashvili, statements like Saakashvili’s are intended to stir division within society.
“This is an attempt to introduce as many disagreements as possible into society, and it comes from outside. We have seen NGOs that are actively spreading this ideology. They focus on numerology, insisting that society should not agree on December 25, January 7, or May 8 or 9. You may recall that last year, under the leadership of the EU ambassador, May 9 was not even congratulated to the Georgian people. 300,000 people died to liberate Europe from fascism, and on May 9 they held a ‘Europe Day’ without inviting any of the people they fund. They did not even congratulate the Georgian people or say thank you.”
Papuashvili went on to describe EU activities in Georgia as “harmful practices aimed at creating confrontation, introducing hatred, and fostering violence.”
“All of this is harmful external interference, which previous US administrations also practiced, spending millions for this purpose. The new administration completely changed this policy and exposed these harmful practices. Today, the EU in Georgia is precisely engaged in this harmful practice—creating confrontation, introducing hatred, and promoting violence. Notice this: where there is violence, the EU flag flies; where there is hatred, the EU flag flies. Where there is anger and personal attacks, there the EU flag is present. This is disgraceful—equating themselves with violence, hatred, and even Molotov cocktails, which, I remind you, the EU funded. We want to change this. Brussels must change its policy. Otherwise, it will collapse itself. We do not want to be dragged into that civilizational abyss where Brussels is taking the EU today.”
By Team GT
