Georgian Parliament Speaker criticises Kallas’ remarks on Georgia, calls them “disrespectful” to Georgian voters

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday criticised recent remarks by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, saying her comments undermined trust in the European Union and reflected a patronising attitude toward Georgia's democratically elected Government.

Papuashvili was responding to remarks by Kallas, who said there were certain difficulties regarding Georgia because the European Union had no contact with the Georgian Government and wanted to support the Georgian people rather than the Government.

Papuashvili argued that the remarks showed disrespect for the democratic choice of Georgian voters and reflected a patronising attitude toward a sovereign state.

“It is regrettable when the European Union's High Representative once again attacks Georgia's Government without provocation. Such rhetoric contributes nothing to Georgia-EU relations; on the contrary, it further undermines the already weakened trust of Georgian society in Brussels”, he said.

“Where there is an attack, there will also be a response. The response is that, unfortunately, some senior EU officials still cannot abandon the political practice of speaking to the democratically elected Government of a sovereign state in a patronising tone instead of engaging in an equal dialogue”, Papuashvili continued.

“We must understand what the formula, “I support the people, but not their Government," really means”, he continued.

Papuashvili emphasised that in reality, such a statement implied that, in Ms.Kallas' view, the Georgian people were incapable of choosing their own Government and therefore required external supervision and guidance. This is not support for the Georgian people; it is disrespect for their democratic choice.

“Brussels should realise that this kind of arrogant attitude towards other nations moves the European Union further away from its founding idea as a peace project and instead turns it into a source of conflict”, he said.

“Ms. Kallas’ latest statement is even more concerning given that, as one of the leaders of ALDE, she belongs to the same political family as Lelo, a party that considers terrorism a legitimate tool of political struggle. Until Ms. Kallas clearly distances herself from her political partners' justification of terrorism, any future comments she makes about Georgia will lack credibility”, Papuashvili concluded.