Georgian Parliament official slams Eurocrats, claims “value crisis” in EU institutions

Rati Ionatamishvili, the chair of the human rights and civil integration committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Friday said that European bureaucratic institutions were facing a “value crisis”, criticising what he described as unfair and inconsistent decisions towards Georgia and its media outlets.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Ionatamishvili noted that Eurocrats have become accustomed to making empty, ineffective decisions that ultimately backfire by highlighting the deep value crisis inside the European Union.

“It is a fact that Eurocrats have become accustomed to firing blank bullets. Such unfair decisions are ineffective, but they still lead to one result, which in my opinion is not a bad thing - they expose the value crisis that currently exists among European bureaucrats. This crisis is truly alarming. They have become so accustomed to double standards and unfair decisions that they have completely forgotten the fundamental values on which the European Union was originally founded”, he said.

The official also criticised what he described as discriminatory treatment of the media in Moldova and referred to responses from Moldovan officials as “dignified”, suggesting that European institutions lacked justification for their decisions.

“Another separate issue is the discriminatory approach taken toward the media in relation to Moldova, where they had to listen to a dignified response from the foreign minister. Even there, they had no answers. These people - whether in the European Parliament or in Moldova - make unfair decisions and then are unable to explain them. Of course, they have nothing to say and cannot justify them”, Ionatamishvili noted.

He also criticised the involvement of certain Georgian citizens in these processes, comparing their actions to Soviet-era denunciations and describing them as “Rasa Gorbachev-type” decisions that hold no value for Georgia.

“What is also visible here is the pitiful fact that all this is being done through the hands of Georgian citizens as well. We have seen those people - those worthy continuers of denunciations - inheriting practices that were typical of the Soviet Union. Because mentally, they are still in the Soviet Union. Ultimately, these are Rasa Gorbachev-type decisions, which have no value for us”, he concluded.

The European Parliament has recently restricted Imedi TV from performing its professional duties within the parliament building for a period of one year.