Georgian Parliament Speaker slams 'Baltic elites' over Lithuania’s new sanctions

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has slammed Baltic political elites following Lithuania’s decision to impose visa sanctions on an additional 10 Georgian citizens.

In a social media post, Papuashvili accused the Baltic leadership of harboring long-standing resentment toward Georgians, claiming they are "almost selecting targets by lottery."

"It turns out the political elite of the Baltics have been carrying deep-seated resentment toward Georgians and are now seizing the opportunity, nearly picking targets with a lottery machine," Papuashvili wrote.

He further alleged that the roots of this resentment lie in the Soviet past:
"Considering that much of the Baltic political elite comes from former communist families, this bitterness is clearly a relic of the Soviet Union."

Papuashvili sarcastically suggested that one day, researchers might analyze what historical grievance former Georgian communist leader Vasil Mzhavanadze may have caused to Antanas Sniečkus, his Lithuanian counterpart during Soviet times.

"Perhaps one day the post-Soviet think tank ‘SovLab’ will investigate this phenomenon too — once it realizes that yet another attempt to overthrow the Georgian government with foreign backing has failed," he added.