I had a conversation with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at a bilateral meeting and clearly explained our position – as long as the sovereignty of the Georgian people is violated by the Parliamentary Assembly, they will not see our delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly, – this was stated by Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili to journalists in Rome after the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament of the Council of Europe.

According to him, one of the international institutions that weakens the trust of the people is the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which, in Papuashvili’s assessment, undermined the principle of the sovereignty of countries when it did not recognize the credentials of the delegation of the Parliament of Georgia.

“First of all, this conference was important both for those sessions where we had the opportunity to address the Speakers of the parliaments of European countries. Today’s session also concerned the dismantling of the rules-based international order and I emphasized that this dismantling begins when trust in international institutions decreases, and it was important to speak here precisely in the presence of the Speakers of the parliaments of the member states of the Council of Europe that one of those who weakens this trust is the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which undermines the principle of the sovereignty of countries when it did not recognize the credentials of the delegation of the Parliament of Georgia. In connection with this I had a conversation, including with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at a bilateral meeting, and I clearly explained our position – as long as the sovereignty of the Georgian people is violated by the Parliamentary Assembly, they will not see our delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly. It is time for the Assembly to return to respect for democracy, respect for the right of peoples to elect their own authorities themselves, and from the moment they return to the basic principles of international law and the rules-based international order, from that moment our delegation will be represented in the Parliamentary Assembly. We also had the opportunity of bilateral meetings over two days with our colleagues, including with the Speaker of the Italian Parliament, with whom we have a long-standing friendly relationship. All the meetings were important in order to speak about the importance of bilateral relations against the background when Brussels has today chosen a confrontational regime and is blocking not only Georgia’s European integration process, but also, among other things, high-level relations with Georgia,” – stated Papuashvili.