Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has commented on a decision by the European Parliament (EP) to restrict the work of media outlets loyal to the Georgian government for one year, stripping TV Imedi, Rustavi 2, and POSTV of their accreditation.
Kobakhidze criticized the move, stating that European institutions are “effectively losing face” and are no longer upholding the principles of media freedom.
According to the Prime Minister, such actions “fail to meet any standards” and demonstrate that freedom of speech and the media are no longer priorities for the European Parliament.
“You can see that European structures are effectively losing face entirely. Media freedom means nothing to them anymore. What began in the United Kingdom has now been continued by the European Parliament.
This is, of course, absolutely disgraceful and fails to meet any standards. The decision they have made shows that media freedom is worthless to the European Parliament.
The European Parliament increasingly resembles—or rather, already resembles—the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. This is a tragic situation we are witnessing. We hope that in the future, all of this will be rectified.”
