MEP Nathalie Loiseau criticizes Georgian PM for comparing EU Parliament to Soviet Union

French MEP Nathalie Loiseau has responded to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s comparison of the European Parliament to the Soviet Union, questioning his democratic credentials and accusing him of using Soviet-style methods in Georgia.

“If the Georgian PM doesn’t like the Soviet Union, why is he copying its methods, jailing peaceful protesters, silencing independent media and opponents after a rigged election? These sorts of things don’t happen in the EU,” Loiseau wrote on X. “And by the way, wasn’t he pretending to support Georgia’s EU accession, before he changed his mind and stole Georgia’s future?”

Her comments came in response to a statement by Kobakhidze on Thursday, in which he described the European Parliament as “completely irrelevant” and compared it to the Soviet-era Supreme Council. Speaking to journalists, the Prime Minister said, “The resolutions of the European Parliament are absolutely uninteresting. If anything resembles a Soviet institution today, unfortunately, it is the European Parliament. In its current form, it is no different from the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union.”

Kobakhidze also lamented what he described as the Parliament’s “unfortunate, alarming, and even tragic” state and expressed hope for reforms within the institution.