What some people dare to tell us from Brussels today, not everyone from Moscow used to dare to say something like that to us. One Russian writer said something wrong about Georgians and half of Georgia came to Moscow and made him apologize. Today, we hear worse things from Brussels every other day, - said the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

As Papuashvili noted, “many people both inside and outside the country want to present us as a ‘banana republic’.

“When we were in the Soviet Union, we weren’t like this. We were a leading country for many reasons, and we had something to say politically. What some people dare to tell us from Brussels today, not everyone from Moscow would dare to say something like that to us. One Russian writer said something wrong about Georgians and half of Georgia came to Moscow and made him apologize. Today, we hear worse things from Brussels every other day.

When a foreign minister of a foreign country arrives and attends an opposition rally, when he dares to do so, there are actions to be taken. As for the local elections, they will definitely be held in the fall. It will be interesting to see if they answer a question of whether they intend to participate or not,” Papuashvili noted.

In addition, he noted that Georgian society is watching who is a true European, who respects European values, and who is a hypocrite.

“They are repeating the path that the Russian Empire took in relation to Georgia, and then the Soviet Union. What did we not like there? We did not like the main thing, they did not respect the choice of the Georgian people, sovereignty. We are still seeing some foreign politicians acting in this way. I will not dwell on Carl Bildt. He is a lobbyist who operates with money. Consider that there is an invoice and a specific amount behind his statement. This shows that someone hired him for this, to voice such ideas.

These elections are a test for the European Union, for European countries, including Brussels, European leaders and politicians. We are observing society, this is a test of whether they are loyal to common European values, democracy and respect for the sovereignty of other countries, or whether they are slowly becoming like those whom they are so openly fighting with words. We are observing the Georgian people and Georgian society, who is a real European, who respects European values, the sovereignty of peoples, and who is a hypocrite, a post-Soviet leader hiding behind a European mask or something else,” Papuashvili noted.