This is an attempt by various foreign powers to shut down free media in Georgia - since they cannot carry out their threat in any other way, they are now trying to make a small sting in free media within their own narrow circle, - the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, said in response to the European Parliament's ban on Imedi.

According to him, the regulations regarding media accreditation in the Georgian Parliament are "10 times lighter than in the European Parliament".

Papuashvili says that he intends to consider introduction of exactly the same changes to the accreditation rules of the Georgian Parliament as in the European Parliament.

“Of course, this is to be seen in the context of what we have been hearing and seeing steps taken recently. This is an attempt by various foreign powers to close down free media in Georgia. The fact is that the main thing that Brussels is afraid of today is the right word. It seems that they are very afraid of the truth, which they ultimately hear. All the propaganda that was spread and millions were spent against the interests of Georgia is not working, so this is part of the closure of free media in Georgia. This is a continuation of the hostile decision taken by Great Britain against the media, the goal of which is to close down free media. We have been hearing threats for a long time from Ms. Rasa, who is distinguished by her fascist statements towards the Georgian people. Since they cannot carry out this threat in any other way, now they are trying to make a small sting in free media within their narrow circle.

On the other hand, it was very interesting for me personally to listen to all this. The European Union spent hundreds of thousands of euros to blacken the Georgian Parliament. Regarding the accreditation rules, there was an attack on the Parliament. It turns out that the European Parliament has stricter rules than the Georgian Parliament. In particular, one of the rules in the Georgian Parliament is that a journalist can start an interview, but if the respondent asks to stop the interview, he must stop. It turns out that in the European Parliament, prior consent is required. It is interesting, we will think about this. Second, when the rule is violated, we have a sanction, suspension of accreditation for one month, and for a repeat, for 6 months. For how long has Imedi been suspended?! For 1 year. Good, we will think about this too. I am going to think about whether to make appropriate changes to the accreditation rules. First, I will think about this, whether to make changes to obtain prior consent from respondents, if this is the European rule. Second, I will also think about the terms for suspending accreditation. You saw what the rules were in the European Parliament, we will think about whether exactly the same rules should apply to us.

There is a good word “hypocrisy”. We need to understand what hypocrisy is in the European Parliament, in Brussels. What kind of hypocrites are sitting in the EU embassy,” Papuashvili said.

For information, according to Imedi, the European Parliament banned the TV company from working in the building for a year. According to the TV company, the reason was an attempt to interview MEP Rasa Juknevicienė.