Archil Gorduladze, a Member of the Parliament of Georgia from the Georgian Dream party, stated that Europe is currently standing «on the brink of a civilizational abyss.» According to him, as much as Georgia needs the EU, the European Union needs Georgia just as much, and perhaps even more.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee made these remarks in response to a statement by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, who did not mention Tbilisi among the candidates for accession to the bloc.
«Marta Kos only ever recalls Georgia when lamenting that, under legislation passed at our team’s initiative, importing ‘dirty money’ into our country has become impossible. That is her sole concern. They are seeking any loopholes to somehow funnel this ‘dirty money’ in, which is then used domestically to fuel violence, street protests, and xenophobic campaigns. That is precisely what she regrets, and it is always in this context that she mentions Georgia.»
At the same time, according to Gorduladze, the European Commissioner acknowledges that «according to studies and reports by various European Union bodies themselves,» Georgia occupies leading positions compared to, for instance, Moldova or other candidate countries. The MP views this as «further proof that what Georgia actually does and what steps are taken to develop the country hold no real significance for them.» The Georgian Dream member is convinced that political expediency is all that matters to the EU.
«Under direct external management, they are obliged to speak about Georgia exclusively in a negative light—even when this contradicts geopolitics, geography, and the map. We remember how Georgia is simply ‘forgotten’ during summits of littoral states. We advise them to look at the map and realize once again: engaging in dialogue from the position of those on the brink of a civilizational abyss is detrimental to themselves. Just as Georgia needs the European Union, at this moment the European Union may need Georgia even more—given our geographic location,» Gorduladze stated.
