Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, described the outcome of the referendum in Iceland—where a majority voted against resuming EU accession talks—as the “collapse of the policies of Brussels’ current leadership.” According to Papuashvili, the results of the plebiscite demonstrated that the Icelandic people lack trust in the European Union.
“The results of the referendum make one thing crystal clear: Brussels has lost the trust of populations across various nations. It is precisely this distrust of Brussels and the European Union that was reflected in the vote, with the people of Iceland refusing to resume dialogue. They rejected even the very idea of continuing negotiations—such is the depth of their distrust toward the EU.
Because the political and personal factions currently running Brussels have, through their immature foreign and reckless domestic policies, brought about a situation where Iceland—a member of the European Economic Area, a NATO member, and an integrated state in many respects…
The question arises: if the level of integration is so high, what prevents it from becoming an EU member? Yet even they refused to return to negotiations due to colossal distrust. And what causes it? The fact that joining would mean ceding part of their sovereignty to Brussels, which could subsequently make decisions detrimental to them. This is precisely where their lack of trust lies. The distrust toward the EU and Brussels is also fueled by the changes currently being planned.”
According to Papuashvili, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos announced a reform of the EU’s internal decision-making process. “It was announced that a member state could simply be stripped of its voting rights,” the Georgian Parliament Speaker claimed. He believes that “the people of Iceland see this: if they take this step today, there is no guarantee that tomorrow a few countries won’t take away their vote and make decisions without their participation.”
“This is the collapse of the policies of Brussels’ current leadership: citizens of a country deeply integrated with the European Union and a member of NATO not only reject membership, but do not even wish to resume negotiations, viewing it as a direct threat to their interests. This is precisely the outcome we predicted,” Shalva Papuashvili concluded.
