Papuashvili Accuses International Organizations and Foreign Diplomats of Interfering in Country's Politics
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, March 10, 2025
During a press briefing on March 7, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili launched a series of accusations against international organizations, foreign diplomats, and Western governments, alleging interference in Georgia's political and judicial affairs.
Papuashvili criticized the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), calling it a "fraudulent organization" and accusing it of manipulating the results of the 2020 Georgian elections. He claimed ISFED's actions were intended to mislead the public and to destabilize the government. Papuashvili also alleged that in 2024, ISFED had "hidden" the results of its parallel vote count. "Together with the USAID leadership, both ISFED and the American and Georgian employees of USAID hid the real results and lied to us," he said.
According to Papuashvili, ISFED's decision to withhold the election results was "dictated to them by the donor," a claim he suggested confirmed ISFED's status as a "fraudulent organization" that had lost American funding. He further stated that ISFED was now being funded by Brussels, a move he argued was part of an effort to destabilize Georgia's political landscape. Papuashvili reiterated the Georgian Dream party's stance that foreign funding for ISFED was a tool to undermine Georgia's sovereignty.
Papuashvili also turned his attention to foreign diplomats, specifically accusing those from Belgium, Lithuania, and the UK of undermining Georgia's sovereignty. He described the actions of these diplomats as part of a broader attempt by the Baltic states to replace the Georgian government.
In his remarks, Papuashvili expressed strong disapproval of the proposed MEGOBARI Act, a bipartisan U.S. Senate bill that would impose sanctions on Georgian government officials accused of human rights violations and undermining democracy. He denounced the bill, arguing that it represented unwarranted foreign interference in Georgia's internal affairs.
