Georgian Parliament Speaker says Maia Sandu lacks grounds to lecture Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday sharply criticised Moldovan President Maia Sandu over her recent remarks concerning Georgia, accusing her of anti-Georgian rhetoric and political bias.

Papuashvili made the comments while responding to journalists’ questions about Sandu’s statement delivered during her speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where she spoke about Russia’s hybrid operations and claimed that Moscow had brought Georgia back into its orbit by using the fear of war as a tool.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted that Sandu lacks the moral and political authority to address the Georgian people “in such a tone”, claiming that her statements reflect actions taken “at the prompting of others” and adding that she only addresses Georgia sporadically, “once a year”, while presenting herself as having ideological or moral superiority.

The Georgian Parliament Speaker also recalled events of October 4, alleging that Sandu supported efforts to overthrow the Georgian Government at that time. Papuashvili stated that while a violent assault was underway near the Georgian presidential palace, Sandu publicly expressed support for groups involved in attempts to remove the Government, which, he said, demonstrated her political values.

“This statement also shows that she is acting at the behest of others, as we are reminded of her only once a year, and for some reason she believes she has a certain moral, political, or ideological superiority to speak to the Georgian people in such a tone. When we hear such anti-Georgian rhetoric from the President of Moldova, it is absolutely outrageous, and it is important that there be a response to it. Perhaps we should also have had a very clear response at the time, when the Moldovan President openly supported groups involved in the violent overthrow of the Government”, the Speaker continued.

Papuashvili further criticised Sandu’s political views, claiming she supports the dissolution of her own state. He referenced past statements in which Sandu argued that Moldova, as a small country, could not survive independently and should therefore unite with a larger state.

“As a rule, our homegrown pseudo-Europeans tend to support everyone except Georgia and their own country. I would remind you what the justification for Ms. Sandu’s statement was. Her justification was that Moldova is a small state, cannot survive, and therefore must join a larger state. When a head of state says that her own state is too small and insignificant, and that in order to survive it must be abolished, it is clear that we are on completely different value orbits, and in this regard, we cannot compete with Moldova”, Papuashvili concluded.