Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has urged “Brussels officials” to take a serious approach “to the human rights situation in the European Union.” Commenting on the dispersal of a protest in Copenhagen, he stated that this was not an exception, and that the same picture could be seen in Berlin, Paris, and other capitals.
According to Papuashvili, Tbilisi sees that the human rights situation in the EU is deteriorating day by day. This also applies to freedom of expression. Therefore, it is important that the dispersal of the protest in Copenhagen, carried out with “particular brutality,” is investigated and those responsible are punished.
The speaker of the Georgian parliament also stated that Denmark has a long history of human rights violations. He cited examples of events that took place in Greenland (forced sterilization of the population and a social experiment involving the removal of children from their families). According to Papuashvili, some Greenlandic politicians view this system as genocide, yet these cases have still not been investigated, and no one has been punished.
“It is regrettable when representatives of such a country then lecture others about standards. In conclusion, we must free ourselves from the complexes that have been forced upon the Georgian people for many years—as if we were a second-class nation, a not fully developed nation, as if Denmark or Germany should teach us what a proper life is, what proper Europeanness is, and how to properly build a country. We ourselves will teach everyone what Europeanness and human rights mean.”
Papuashvili urged Georgians to rid themselves of the “externally imposed complex that we are students, and our class teachers are representatives of certain countries that have committed crimes equated to genocide against their own population.”
Earlier, the dispersal of the protest in Copenhagen was also condemned by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. In an open letter addressed to the heads of the European Commission, the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament, the Prime Minister questioned to what extent such actions comply with the democratic standards and principles of human rights protection advocated by the EU.
This refers to the events of May 14 near the office of the Danish company Maersk. Protesters accused the company of supplying weapons to Israel. Police officers used force to disperse the picket, using batons and police dogs.