Georgian PM likens EU pressure to the Inquisition

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has compared the EU’s recent criticism of his government’s policies to medieval persecution.

According to Interpressnews, Kobakhidze said: “Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for affirming that the Earth revolves. Today, people are being ‘burned’ for believing that a man is a man and a woman is a woman.”

The comment follows criticism from EU officials and the Venice Commission over Georgia’s proposed legislation on family values and transparency in funding of activist groups. Kobakhidze rejected the criticism, calling the EU’s stance “worse than the Inquisition,” and adding that “Europe has fallen below the level of the Inquisition.”

The PM claimed that the EU is putting pressure on Georgia to repeal a law that states that “a man should remain a man,” threatening to cancel visa-free travel in response. “European bureaucracy tells us our visa liberalization should be burned at the stake,” he said.

Kobakhidze also criticized the Venice Commission’s recommendation to allow changing legal gender upon request. “This is a disgrace, worse than the Inquisition,” he stated.

Referencing how France recently passed a law on transparency, Kobakhidze accused the EU of hypocrisy: “What is forbidden to Georgia is acceptable in France… I hope Europe recovers from such double standards.”