Papuashvili: Brussels hoped to "draw Georgia into a policy of escalation"
Speaker of the Parliament and one of the leaders of the ruling party of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili named the reasons for the unprecedented crisis in relations between Tbilisi and Brussels at the EU partners' conference in Budapest. According to him, "relations have become hostage to the political context." Papuashvili explained that "some political groups in Europe had harmful expectations regarding Georgia." In particular, in his opinion, certain forces in Brussels hoped to "draw Georgia into a policy of escalation." In addition, the politician also abstractly mentioned the political forces that "patronize the former authoritarian ruler Mikheil Saakashvili, trying to return his political force to power." The elimination of these two approaches, according to the representative of the "Dream," will be the key to normalizing relations between Tbilisi and the European Union. He emphasized that Georgia remains committed to the course of European integration. “Excessive strengthening of the EU’s central structures may hinder the adoption of decisions that best reflect the unique political, economic and cultural characteristics of each country. Georgia remains committed to its course towards EU accession. I represent the government that has done the most to advance Georgia along this path. At the same time, from the position of the parliament, we have witnessed an incomprehensible approach from the European institutions. Unfortunately, we are witnessing a tendency in which some EU structures speak to the parliament, the elected people, in the language of directives and impose obligations without providing corresponding rights. Obligations without a vote, especially in those EU institutions where Georgia is not yet represented, do not correspond to the principle of democratic pluralism on which the European Union is based,” Papuashvili said.
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