Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili has strongly criticized the country’s leadership during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, claiming the conflict could have been avoided with a “patriotic government.”

“Plans existed from the 1990s onward. The question isn’t who started what, but why the war began. If we had a patriotic government at the time, it wouldn’t have happened—just as it didn’t in 2022,” Papuashvili said.

He accused the then-government, led by Mikheil Saakashvili, of being a "puppet regime" that allowed Georgia to be used as a pawn in global geopolitics, leading to war.

“Many have vested interests in global confrontation. We see this in Ukraine’s example—people say it's Europe’s front line, but where are the European soldiers? Where are the Lithuanians, Estonians, or French on the front lines?” he asked.

Papuashvili also made a controversial remark about Saakashvili’s personal conduct, claiming the former president “threw himself to the ground” in panic during a foreign guest’s visit when an aircraft flew overhead.

He emphasized that Georgian soldiers and civilians who fought and died in the 2008 war did so with courage and patriotism, independent of the political situation.

“Every Georgian fighter fights like at Didgori—bravely, without fear of the odds or political background. This is a fight for your homeland,” Papuashvili stated, invoking the historic Battle of Didgori as a symbol of national valor.