"Molotov cocktail" symbolises EU’s negative perception in Georgia, says legislature chief

The negative perception of the European Union in Georgia is increasingly tied to its association with violent protests, particularly symbolised by the infamous “Molotov cocktail,” according to Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament.

Speaking to local media, Papuashvili highlighted that this troubling view stems from a distorted understanding of European values, where setting a person on fire is mistakenly seen as legitimate forms of protest, Caliber.Az reports.

In 2023, Georgia witnessed for the first time a case where a protester attempted to set a police officer on fire using a “Molotov cocktail,” which, in his opinion, corresponded to European methods of protest. This person was Lazare Grigoriadis, who was then arrested, Papuashvili reminded.

“This is the reason for the results of this 'Eurobarometer' study — because the EU is identified with the ‘Molotov cocktail’... The European ideal is throwing the ‘Molotov cocktail,’” Papuashvili said.

According to the head of the legislative body, the case of Lazare Grigoriadis is “illustrative, and his guilt was proven.” However, contrary to justice, European politicians and diplomats succeeded in securing his pardon from Salome Zourabichvili.

Thus, the European Union justified a person who tried to set a police officer on fire and declared him a hero.

Such encouragement, according to Papuashvili, led to an increase in violent incidents: if there was one such incident in 2023, there were already ten the following year.

“Euro-activists, who are violent, are encouraged. They can throw ‘Molotov cocktails,’ come to insult, swear — do anything, because, from their point of view, all this is considered European,” Papuashvili noted.

By Khagan Isayev