Georgian Parliament official: EU approach towards Georgia has been counterproductive

Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Regional Policy and Self-government Committee, on Wednesday said that the European Union’s approach toward Georgia has failed to support democratic progress and has, in some cases, hindered the functioning of democratic processes.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Kadagishvili noted that the interests of individual EU member states will ultimately shape the Union’s policy.

“Ultimately, the interests of individual states will prevail within the European Union, and this will also influence EU policy. The approach the EU has taken towards Georgia in recent years, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has proven to be absolutely counterproductive in every respect”, Kadagishvili said.

He pointed out that ignoring parliamentary elections without objective evidence and the boycott of local self-government elections by many opposition parties have damaged rather than advanced democracy in Georgia.

“When parliamentary elections are disregarded without any objective arguments or evidence to substantiate such a position, does that contribute to or damage the development of democracy? When a large part of the political parties did not participate in the local self-government elections, did that contribute to or damage democracy? I will say nothing of the practical issues that are extremely important for Europe today and in which cooperation with Georgia is essential for them”, he noted.

The official highlighted that certain European policies could not be implemented effectively without Georgia and predicted that political rhetoric would eventually change, creating space for genuine cooperation.

“This policy cannot be implemented without Georgia, not only because of our geographic position, but also because, as a state, we have reached a level where cooperation with us is important for everyone. Political rhetoric will change over time, and the time for genuine cooperation will come”, Kadagishvili concluded.