TBILISI, October 11 – EU Ambassador Paweł Herczynski accused Tbilisi of anti-European rhetoric on Saturday. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze responded by accusing Brussels of attempting to overthrow Georgia’s government.
Speaking at a Europe Day event in Kakheti on Saturday, Herczynski struck a conciliatory note toward Georgian society, saying the country belonged in Europe and that recent political tensions could not erase decades of ties.
“We wish the Georgian voice to ring out clearly and loudly within Europe’s polyphony,” he said in a speech published by the EU’s External Action Service. He added that recent “anti-European rhetoric severely damages this close bond” but could not alter it.
But speaking to reporters afterward, Herczynski sharply criticized recent developments in Georgia. He said EU foreign ministers would discuss the country on Monday because Brussels was concerned about human rights and democracy.
“People go to jail for standing on sidewalks. People go to jail for Facebook posts,” Herczynski said, adding that EU and member-state foundations that had supported Georgia were being driven out of the country.
He also said Brussels had been calling on the Georgian government to change course since June 2024 if it remained serious about EU membership, but that those appeals had been ignored. Herczynski described recent attacks on the EU, its institutions and the European Parliament as unprecedented.
Kobakhidze hit back later Saturday, saying Georgia understood democracy and human rights better than European officials did. He accused what he called the “European bureaucracy” of supporting violent attempts to change the government and of applying double standards to demonstrations in Georgia.
The prime minister said Georgia continued to uphold the rule of law, democracy and human rights, and argued that European officials were upset because forces associated with the former United National Movement had failed to return to power.
The rhetoric hardened further on Sunday. Georgian Dream MP Irakli Zarkua accused Herczynski of seeking revolution in Georgia and installing “puppets”, while MP Guram Macharashvili accused the ambassador of double standards in his treatment of police and protesters in Georgia and France.
The confrontation comes as EU foreign ministers prepare to discuss Georgia at their meeting in Luxembourg on Monday. Herczynski also said the European Commission’s next enlargement report was due in about three weeks and that, in his assessment, the situation regarding fundamental freedoms had worsened since last year’s report.
Despite the political clash, the EU delegation also announced EUR 38 million in new projects for Georgia in 2026, aimed at education, employment, households, rural development, women, young people, vulnerable groups and environmental protection.
