Shalva Papuashvili: The way Georgians were reviled in the European Parliament yesterday is exactly how Russian and non-Russian Soviet deputies reviled us after April 9; if the EU wants Georgia to become a member, it cannot get us with a parliament like that
"When we speak of the EU being dragged toward a civilizational abyss, the European Parliament is already in that abyss and speaking to us from there—the way Georgians were reviled in the European Parliament yesterday is exactly how certain Russian and non-Russian Soviet deputies reviled us at the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union following the events of April 9, 1989," Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili stated, responding to the European Parliament's resolution.
Papuashvili asserts that the European Parliament is infiltrated by individuals with a Soviet mentality who harbor hatred toward the Georgian people.
“It is difficult to take the European Parliament and its resolutions seriously. This is already the ninth resolution adopted with a hostile subtext toward the Georgian people. There is nothing surprising about this anymore. We see that autumn and spring are the seasons when anti-Georgian groups experience a flare-up of activity. On one side, there is the EPP—a coalition of parties standing on the edge of a civilizational abyss, which regards Mikheil Saakashvili as a leading democrat. On the other side, we see Gorbachev’s associate Juknevičienė, the "Astrakhan Germans," and so forth—people who embody a purely Soviet mentality and have infiltrated the European Parliament with it. We have already seen nine resolutions calling for the imposition of sanctions, and this is the third one in which I have seen my own name mentioned.
When we speak of the EU being dragged toward a civilizational abyss, in the case of the European Parliament, that institution is already in the civilizational abyss and speaking to us from there; therefore, for it to be considered worthy of serious discussion, first, it must emerge from the abyss, and only then might its discourse carry some weight.
The European Parliament reminds one of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union—the aesthetic is identical. Even today, you can find footage online of the Congress of People's Deputies held after April 9, 1989; the way Georgians were berated in the European Parliament just yesterday mirrors how certain Soviet deputies—Russian and non-Russian alike—berated us back then.
How should we have reacted to that 1989 Congress? Just as we paid no heed to the vitriol spewed from that assembly at the time, we should likewise ignore the abuse and disdain that the European Parliament evidently harbors directly toward the Georgian people. Rasa Juknevičienė’s hatred for Georgians is apparent in her vocabulary, her rhetoric, and everything else; she views Stalin as a personal enemy, and because he was Georgian, she directs that hatred toward Georgians—something she simply cannot get past.
If the EU wants Georgia to become a member, it cannot get us with a parliament like that. We have nothing to discuss with people who harbor outright hatred toward Georgians and use the European Parliament chamber to spew that hatred," stated Shalva Papuashvili.
