Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili has criticized European institutions, once again accusing them of seeking to push Tbilisi into a confrontation with Russia. In particular, the politician responded to a statement by European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, who said that Georgia remains an EU candidate country “only on paper.”
“Ms. Kos can repeat these figures of speech as much as she likes, but it is better to be a candidate country only on paper than a state only on paper,” Papuashvili stated.
According to him, had the Georgian authorities listened to Brussels and chosen escalation in relations with Russia, Georgia today, like Ukraine, would be a war-torn country.
“In my opinion, it is better to remain a candidate country only on paper than to be a state only on paper, and this choice had to be made. If we had listened to Brussels and trusted it, Georgia today would be a state only on paper for a whole host of reasons. First, had we listened to Brussels and escalated with Russia, Georgia would have suffered the same economic damage that Moldova did.
If we had listened to Brussels and chosen escalation with Russia, Georgia would have been dragged into a military conflict with a high degree of probability—into a new military confrontation with Russia—and today we would be a war-torn country, just like Ukraine. So the ‘main sin’ Brussels holds against us is that we do not follow their harmful advice, and the Georgian people only benefit from this.
I repeat: had we believed everything they advised us, today Georgia would exist only on paper. So Ms. Kos can repeat these figures of speech as much as she pleases, but it is better to be a candidate country only on paper than to be a state only on paper,” Papuashvili said.
The parliamentary speaker also addressed the debate on Georgia in the European Parliament scheduled for October 7. According to him, those debating in Strasbourg are the ones who weaponize Georgian opposition parties against Georgia. The politician reiterated that external forces are exploiting and covertly funding the opposition.
According to Papuashvili, all of this is being done to advance their own agenda in Georgia, rather than an agenda in the interests of the Georgian nation.
