Shalva Papuashvili – Brussels everywhere, Europe nowhere: This is an attempt to punish the Georgian people by the groups who illegally participated in the Georgian elections and lost in those elections, the Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told journalists during his visit to Hungary. He was responding to the statement made by the EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, that "the visa-free regime for diplomatic passports with Georgia has been suspended, and the funds that were meant to support the government have been redirected to NGOs."

Papuashvili also emphasized that having an EU passport in your pocket does not mean being faithful to European values and unfortunately, there are many examples "where, beyond the passport, no European values are visible."

"Brussels everywhere, Europe nowhere – this can be the assessment. It is unfortunate that Brussels bureaucrats are straying from European values. We saw the direct involvement of governments of various EU member states in the pre-election campaign, especially from post-Soviet EU member countries, who participated directly in our elections. This happened openly, in broad daylight, without concealment, rudely. The Georgian people rejected all of them, refusing to elect their political leadership based on their instructions. This is an attempt to punish the Georgian people by the groups who participated illegally, violating international law, in the Georgian elections and lost in those elections. We also saw the statement by Ms. Yuknevičienė, who said that certain reactions from the EU were directly caused by the support of the Georgian electorate for the 'Georgian Dream.' This is revenge and punishment of the Georgian people. An attempt to punish and take revenge on the Georgian people, because, as we can see, foreign ministers of Estonia and Lithuania were standing at a rally in Georgia to prevent support for the 'Georgian Dream.' There is nothing surprising in the fact that these ministers, sitting in a room, will try to harm the Georgian people, who gave them an adequate response.

Also, the formulation, when they say that diplomats are being punished, is void of any understanding of diplomatic relations. Even in wartime, diplomats are inviolable, and when we hear such assessments from some Europeans, it shows how far some are from European values. Having an EU passport in your pocket does not mean being faithful to European values. Unfortunately, we are seeing many examples recently where, beyond the passport, in reality, no European values are visible," Papuashvili stated.