Speaker Papuashvili accuses EU ambassador of supporting offensive rhetoric over Kamara festival

Georgia’s Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has accused EU Ambassador to Georgia Paweł Herczyński of supporting offensive rhetoric directed at Georgian citizens after the EU Delegation expressed regret over the postponement of the Kamara festival.

Papuashvili said the European Union had provided funding to musician Kordz, whom he accused of insulting a large section of the Georgian population. He said the public and Georgian media had sought explanations from the EU ambassador but received no response, while Herczyński had reacted publicly to an Instagram post by Kordz following the festival’s postponement.

The speaker said the episode demonstrated “discrepancy” between the EU Delegation’s stated values and its response to the controversy.

“If Paweł Herczyński thinks we Georgians are fascists and believes that publicly insulting Georgians by cursing their mothers is acceptable, then he truly has not understood anything,” Papuashvili said.

He also criticised the EU Delegation’s reference to freedom of creative expression, arguing that insults directed at people because of their political views should not be treated as cultural expression.

Papuashvili further accused the EU ambassador of failing to condemn violence in Georgia, referring to an “attack on the Georgian president’s residence” on 4-5 October. He claimed instead that the EU was defending a person who had insulted Georgian Dream voters.

The speaker also alleged that the EU’s involvement in cultural projects was aimed at supporting the United National Movement’s return to power and accused the bloc’s representatives of encouraging radicalism. Those claims are political allegations made by Papuashvili and were not independently established in his remarks.

The controversy centres on musician Kordz’s planned appearance at the Kamara festival. Georgian Dream representatives had previously criticised his inclusion, saying he had insulted the party’s voters.

The EU Delegation to Georgia said it regretted the organisers’ decision to postpone the festival because of security concerns. It described Kamara as an EU-funded event held within the framework of the Creative Compass Georgia project and said the EU had supported Georgia’s cultural sector for 30 years, including cultural heritage, creative industries and links between Georgian and European artists.