Lortkipanidze: "Georgian Dream" is one thing and the Georgian people are another, there is a great divide between them

Political scientist and co-founder of the Social Democracy Movement Levan Lortkipanidze says that representatives of Georgian Dream treat the countries of Eastern and Central Europe with contempt. He made the statement on the Palitranews program "Rezume" in response to the rhetoric of Georgian Dream's leaders.

According to Lortkipanidze, Poland was singled out for particularly contemptuous treatment today. "Germany was taught the language, France was taught the language, but Poland, which was a member of this communist camp, today is a country with a trillion-dollar economy," he said. The political scientist explained that Poland is among the twenty countries with a trillion-dollar economy and produces everything itself. He claims that the government, which could not grow beans here and could not sow potatoes, buys beans from Uzbekistan, has no right to mock Poland.

Lortkipanidze also assessed the European Commission report, calling it objective, which shows how far Georgia lags behind democratic standards. According to him, nothing new has been revealed over the last two days, but it was once again confirmed that the government does not want relations with the European Union, tries to isolate itself, and looks for a reason to attack the European Union and its representatives both personally and institutionally.

The political scientist believes that this is Georgian Dream's feeble attempt to put an equal sign between the Georgian people and the government. "Georgian Dream is one thing and the Georgian people are another. There is a great divide between them," he said, adding that the European Union criticizes the government and not the people.

Lortkipanidze listed the problems noted in the report: deterioration of democracy and rule of law standards, banning of parties, unequal application of the law, absence of free elections, pressure on public officials, repression of civil society, corruption and threats to freedom of expression. In his words, the judiciary is staffed with old personnel, and judges who served the previous regime serve the new one.

"People think a hundred times before writing on Facebook, in case Shalva Papuashvili later has that person arrested," he said, adding that the media is polarized.

In conclusion, Lortkipanidze called on the public to see the shortcomings of the European Union, but also how far Georgia lags behind the European Union's democratic and economic standards, and not to give Georgian Dream's propaganda a way in.