Georgia vows to expose EU "false narratives," defend national interests

Georgian authorities will expose what Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili described as false claims and narratives put forward by the European Union, while defending Georgia’s national interests in its relations with Brussels.

“The Georgian authorities will expose false claims and narratives put forward by the European Union,” Papuashvili said at a press conference, Caliber.Az reports per Georgian media.

“A lie does not become the truth, no matter how often Brussels repeats it. False narratives about election rigging and the dispersal of peaceful demonstrations have been refuted by time and reality,” Papuashvili wrote.

According to Papuashvili, violent crimes committed during the protests have been investigated, and those responsible have been sentenced. He also claimed that the protests against the Georgian authorities were partly funded by the European Union.

In particular, Papuashvili accused European institutions of supporting a campaign which, he claimed, justified and encouraged the use of “Molotov cocktails.”

Papuashvili also said that a deterioration in relations with Russia would not serve Georgia’s national interests, even if such an escalation could benefit countries such as Germany or Lithuania.

“If anyone does not understand, we are ready to explain to them what our country’s national interests are. An escalation [of the conflict] with Russia is not in our country’s national interest. Perhaps an escalation [of the conflict] between Georgia and Russia is in the interests of Germany or Lithuania, but not in ours. May everyone forgive us, but our interests take precedence over theirs,” Papuashvili said.

The speaker said he has a working visit to EU countries scheduled for September, during which the Georgian side will seek to explain the country’s national interests to interested parties.

Georgia’s position on relations with Russia has been a source of controversy since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. On February 25, 2022, then-Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said the government did not plan to impose sanctions on Russia, citing Georgia’s national interests.

In early March that year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recalled Ukraine’s ambassador from Tbilisi over the Georgian government’s position on sanctions. The decision not to impose sanctions was also criticised by Georgia’s opposition, which accused the authorities of cooperating with Russia.

By Sabina Mammadli