Shalva Papuashvili: It’s laughable that Rasa Juknevičienė, in the draft resolution she prepared, initially called on the opposition to participate in the elections, and the very next day submitted an amendment urging them not to participate

“It’s a laughable moment that Rasa Juknevičienė, in her draft resolution, first called on the opposition to participate in the elections, and the next day, she introduced an amendment urging the opposition not to participate in the elections. These are the kinds of people that this ‘Aka-Tsuka’ opposition has idolized, as if they were members of some religious sect and Rasa Juknevičienė were their high priest,” said Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Parliament, during a conversation with journalists while assessing the resolution adopted by the European Parliament yesterday.

According to Papuashvili, Rasa Juknevičienė makes fascist statements against the Georgian people.

“What can you make of Rasa Juknevičienė’s statement when she makes fascist remarks against the Georgian people? Let me remind you, she said that the issues with Europe are the fault of the Georgian people who vote for ‘Georgian Dream.’ This is a blatantly fascist statement, singling out a group of citizens based on political affiliation. Those who don’t fit her taste are declared guilty. When a person makes fascist statements against the Georgian people, disinformation is a minor offense in comparison.

I want to touch on the resolution she prepared again. It’s a separate laughable moment that in one of the articles of the draft resolution for the European Parliament, it was written that the opposition is urged to participate in the elections, and the next day, she herself introduced an amendment urging the opposition not to participate in the elections. These are the kinds of people that this ‘Aka-Tsuka’ opposition has idolized, as if they were members of some religious sect and Rasa Juknevičienė were their high priest. Among other things, in this resolution, we saw a mention of recognizing Salome Zurabishvili as president, who was elected seven years ago. They’ve already turned the European Parliament into something resembling the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Now, do they want to start a ‘Brezhnevization’ process? They want to recognize someone elected seven years ago, whose term has long expired, as legitimate,” Papuashvili stated.

Regarding Rasa Juknevičienė’s statement about Mzia Amaghlobeli, Papuashvili noted that “they tell such lies because they get away with it.”

“They get away with it, that’s why. They tell lies—what do they care, who will hold them accountable? When they fund something here to supposedly establish facts, who will hold them accountable there? Who will hold Rasa Juknevičienė accountable? They manipulate all of Europe to suit their whims,” Papuashvili said.

On the same topic, Papuashvili noted that what is happening in Brussels now is a “collapse of values.”

“This is plain disinformation spread by the European Union. In reality, it’s a collapse of values happening in Brussels right now, where values are confused—when they tell you disinformation is bad but lie themselves, when they say violence is bad but fund perpetrators of violence, when they say hate speech is bad but fund people who are outright verbal abusers. They are detached from European values,” Papuashvili stated.

While discussing the resolution, the Speaker of the Parliament noted that “the European Union, in the form of the European Commission and its ambassador, is now coming out and demanding Saakashvili’s release.”

“This resolution was adopted with the participation of the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, who showered Rasa Juknevičienė with compliments. This is entirely the responsibility of the European Commission and the EU ambassador. The European Union, in the form of the European Commission and its ambassador, is now coming out and demanding Saakashvili’s release. So, let the EU ambassador answer to the Georgian people now. What do they want? I don’t understand. Is Saakashvili Europe in the eyes of Mr. Herczyński and the European Commission? They cannot escape this responsibility.

Among other things, in previous resolutions, they also demanded sanctions against Russia. In other words, they demand that we escalate with Russia, release a dictator and the creator of a torture system. That’s their idea of Europe. So, let Mr. Herczyński answer: Is Europe, in his view, dictatorship, torture, escalation, and sacrificing the country for conflicts? Is that Europe in his opinion?” Papuashvili stated.