Kirtskhalia: if there is democratic backsliding anywhere, it is in ‘deep state’ machine raging in EU

Irakli Kirtskhalia, leader of the parliamentary majority of Georgian Dream, on Monday said democratic and value-based backsliding is occurring within the system he described as the “deep state” operating in Brussels and in member states of the European Union.

“If there is democratic backsliding anywhere, if there is value-based backsliding anywhere, it is precisely the ‘deep state’ machine that is raging today in Brussels and in EU member states. We see this on a daily basis — what kind of reactions their societies have because of this incorrect governance,” he said.

He added he does not expect objectivity from the bureaucracy in Brussels.

“When we talk about resolutions that have become worth the price of straw, if you ask 99 per cent of people in the corridors of the European Parliament where Georgia is, I am sure they would not be able to answer.

“I am also certain that in the same careless way, through resolutions or statements pushed onto the agenda by specific political groups, local agents then manipulate figures week after week or month after month. These groups are directly identified as the party activists of the collective United National Movement and they have not hidden this for years — they openly and unapologetically declare it,” Kirtskhalia said.