TBILISI, DFWatch–The Speaker of Georgia’s Parliament has accused European Union-funded organizations of preparing to disrupt the country’s upcoming local elections.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said Tuesday that
“organizations funded by the EU embassy are preparing to disrupt the local elections.”
He further claimed that the groups’s activities amount to a violation of international law and warned that the Georgian government would publicly hold donors accountable. “EU budget money is being spent in Georgia to sabotage the local elections. This is a fact!” he declared.
The speaker warned that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party is now determined to “prevent the EU from violating international law” and to preserve the reputation of the Union, which he says is being harmed by “Brussels bureaucrats” and donors.
Papuashvili also suggested that in previous elections, the government had refrained from confronting international actors, only to see them “interfere even more aggressively.”
The EU delegation in Georgia has not responded publicly to the allegations.
The accusations come at a time when relations are strained between Brussels and Georgia’s ruling GD party, with some analysts warning the situation is nearing a breaking point.
Kakha Gogolashvili, head of the Georgian Centre for European Studies, rejected Papuashvili’s claim. “This is a lie,” he told the newspaper Rezonansi. “I haven’t heard of any EU-funded organizations aiming to sabotage the elections.” He argued that the statement is part of a pattern of anti-Western propaganda and warned that relations could deteriorate to the point of losing visa-free travel with the EU.
Another analyst, Edisher Gvenetadze, defended Papuashvili’s view, citing public statements from political and civil society actors calling for election boycotts. He accused EU-funded groups of agitating against participation in the election and dismissed the EU’s role in Georgia as compromised, even describing European leaders as “corrupt bureaucrats.”
