It is not the job of any diplomat, and it is a violation of international law, to baselessly criticize the lawmakers of the host country and the laws they adopt. This statement is pure cynicism, when the Swedish Embassy claims that the Swedish law they intend to adopt concerns the prohibition of financing extremism and sabotage, – said the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, in response to a statement made by the Swedish Embassy.

According to him, “when the Swedish Embassy itself shares calls for encouraging extremism and sabotage, issuing completely cynical statements here and claiming they have different intentions in Sweden – this is not serious.”

“This is exactly what cynicism looks like when an embassy engages in it. In the same statement, they attacked the Georgian Parliament and the law it passed – which is also a violation of the Vienna Convention. It is not the business of any diplomat, and it is a breach of international law, to unjustifiably criticize the legislation of the host country and its lawmakers.

It is cynicism when the Swedish Embassy says that the Swedish law to be adopted is about prohibiting the financing of extremism and sabotage – especially when a Swedish government official stood in front of the Georgian Parliament on November 11 and encouraged radical opposition, later calling on radicals via a televised broadcast to sabotage parliament, to act with extremism, to go out into the streets and repeat a ‘Maidan’ – in other words, to trigger a violent process.

Have you ever heard the Swedish Embassy say they don’t share this position, or that they condemn or distance themselves from it, or that they hold a different opinion? No. Since they have not distanced themselves or condemned it, that means they endorse it.

Therefore, when the Swedish Embassy itself shares calls for encouraging extremism and sabotage, issuing cynical statements and pretending there are different intentions behind Swedish actions is not serious.

Papuashvili also added:

“One of the concerning issues in Sweden is the targeting of religious organizations, which is yet another dimension of human rights violations, as they are deliberately made the target.”

For context: The Swedish Embassy in Georgia issued a statement concerning the legislative process in Sweden regarding foreign funding of activities linked to extremism and anti-democratic goals, as well as the “foreign agents law” adopted in Georgia.

According to the Embassy, the Swedish government has appointed a special investigator to assess whether foreign funding of such activities should be banned in Sweden. The Embassy emphasized that this process is fundamentally different from Georgia’s "Foreign Agents Registration Act," which applies to all types of foreign funding regardless of purpose, and was adopted in a rushed manner, without proper public consultations.