We see that the government of Georgia is becoming more and more like a puppet of the Kremlin, - European parliamentarian Rasa Juknevičienė said at a joint briefing of European parliamentarians in Strasbourg.

"I hope that in my lifetime, we will see Georgian representatives here as members of the European Parliament. I hope so and wish you all the best.

I have three messages:

First - for Georgia and Georgians. If the country wants to join the European Union, then it needs "Debedinization" laws, not the law of Russian foreign agents. This will help clean the country from Kremlin agents and not from other agents, false agents. I fully support Georgians protesting the law on foreign agents, because it is a path to Russia, not to the EU.

Second - for the Georgian opposition and the whole society. They have very clear aspirations towards the European Union. You have to join your efforts, it's not just because I want to teach you something or tell you something that you yourself know very well, but this is really an existential time for the region, for the country and for all of us. Nobody can be more Georgian than Georgians.

Third - more generally. We saw the Kremlin step up last month and last week. We see that we are getting the same messages from the former Prime Minister, Irakli Gharibashvili, who recently stated that Georgia is not ready to become a member of the European Union. This is shocking news, and of course, for those of us who follow the situation in Georgia, this is not new, but it is an open message from the ruling party of Georgia. This is exactly what we hear from the Moldovan opposition from their meetings in Moscow, which they already did last week. We see similar measures taken by the Kremlin even in countries like Kyrgyzstan where they want to pass a similar law. So we see that the government of Georgia is becoming more and more like a puppet of the Kremlin. I am not afraid to say such words, because today is the time to express ourselves very clearly. This is a historic time not only for Georgians, but also for us here. We see how the Kremlin is active before the European Parliament elections, and sometimes we hear the same messages here. So, I think we should see the clear criteria of what the pro-Russian policy of the pro-Russian government means in this or that country, including in Georgia. My final message is to quote a very famous American proverb: "If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's probably a duck," said Rasa Juknevičienė.

It should be noted that the MEPs held a briefing together with the leader of the "Akhali" party, Nika Gvaramia.