We need to understand what hypocrisy there is in the European Parliament, in Brussels, what hypocrites are sitting in the EU Embassy - Shalva Papuashvili

We discovered that the European Parliament has stricter rules than the Georgian Parliament. So, we will definitely think about whether to make appropriate changes to the accreditation rules, - said the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

According to Papuashvili, "we need to understand what hypocrisy there is in the European Parliament, in Brussels, what hypocrites are sitting in the EU Embassy, ​​who criticized the Georgian Parliament for trying to have elementary media rules in the parliament."

“The European Union spent hundreds of thousands of euros to tarnish the Georgian Parliament, they brought us “NGOs”, the so-called media ombudsman, the Charter of Ethics for Journalists. They invested thousands, tens of thousands of euros to damage the reputation of the Parliament. It was precisely in connection with the accreditation rules that the Georgian Parliament was attacked. Even today, a lawsuit has been filed in the Constitutional Court with the funding of the EU Embassy and the European Parliament, as if the introduction of accreditation rules, the establishment of certain rules contradicts the freedom of the media, and so on.

What did we find? It turns out that the European Parliament has stricter rules than the Georgian Parliament. In particular, one of the rules in the Georgian Parliament is that if the respondent does not want to give an interview, the journalist can start the interview, but if the respondent asks to stop the interview, then it must be stopped. It turns out that in the European Parliament prior consent is required from the respondent. It is interesting, we will think about it;

Second – in Georgia, when the rule is violated, we have a sanction. The sanction is a one-month suspension of accreditation, and in case of repetition, six months. How long was Imedi suspended? One year. Good, we will think about that too. I am going to think about whether to make appropriate changes to the accreditation rules – to obtain prior consent from the respondents, if this is the rule in the European Parliament and if this has been the European rule. Obtain consent from the respondents and only then start the interview. With us, the first time is a one-month suspension of accreditation, the second time – six months. In the European Parliament, the first time is a one-year suspension. Therefore, we will definitely think about that too.

There is a good word – hypocrisy, you should understand what hypocrisy there is in the European Parliament, in Brussels, what hypocrites are sitting in the EU embassy, ​​who criticized the Georgian Parliament, were the object of attack because it tried to have elementary media rules in the parliament, which, as it turned out, are ten times lighter than in the European Parliament. How dare these people attack the Georgian Parliament? Where are the media ombudsmen, the SIAs, the ethics charters, and so on? Now it has become clear that these “NGOs” were hired by Brussels to attack the Georgian Parliament, they were paid to make false accusations. Today they will not speak out, because whoever is their employer, who feeds them, gives them money, they will not speak out against that. Very good, we have taken note of what the rules are in the European Parliament. By the way, I asked for the rules, what they are, I looked at them carefully. The most lenient rules have been introduced here. Did you see what the rules of the European Parliament were like? We will definitely think about whether the same rules should be applied to us or not,” Papuashvili said.

As a reminder, the European Parliament suspended the accreditation of the TV companies “Imedi”, “Rustavi 2” and “Postiv” for one year.