Parliament Speaker calls for transparency regarding EU funding mechanisms in Georgia

In a sharp response to recent comments by a European Commission spokesperson, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday called for transparency regarding EU funding mechanisms in Georgia.

“After the spokespersons of the Biden administration fell silent, the spokesperson of the European Commission began speaking. I would like to tell the Commission’s press office that the orchestrated attacks against the Georgian people are now too obvious to ignore”, Papuashvili told journalists in response to recent remarks from Brussels.

He criticised the European Commission’s press secretary for not focusing on what he described as a growing issue.

“It is important for the EU spokesperson to concentrate on the fact that the EU budget has become a sponsor of propaganda, hate speech, and violence”, he continued.

Papuashvili also alleged coordination between American lobbyists and European institutions.

“We remind you that, thanks to the Foreign Agents Registry in the United States, we discovered that American lobbyists were drafting resolutions for the European Parliament. These very resolutions, it turns out, were written by American lobbyists. I don’t know who is writing the EU spokesperson’s statements now, but I believe it’s crucial that they focus on the role the EU budget is playing”, the Speaker said.

He further went on to claim that following the US Government’s decision to halt what he called “harmful funding” - allegedly used to support disinformation, violent groups, and propaganda through USAID and other channels - the EU had become the primary financial supporter of these activities.

“If the EU spokesperson feels competent enough to speak on Georgian matters, then perhaps they could answer this: does the European Commission plan to reassess its funding - funding that is known to support political parties, radical political groups, disinformation outlets, and anti-Georgian propaganda? If they truly want to discuss Georgia, let them start there”, Papuashvili concluded.