Georgian Parliament official claims part of Western political elite reassessing policy towards Georgia

Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Regional Policy and Self-Government Committee, said on Monday that part of the political elite in the West had come to realise that the policy pursued towards Georgia, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had been “absolutely counterproductive”.

Kadagishvili made the remarks on the EURO Anatomy programme, referring to the events of October 4 and statements made by what he described as “Eurocrats”.

“I think that part of the political elite in the West realises that the policy they pursued towards Georgia, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, turned out to be absolutely counterproductive for the European Union and for bringing Georgia and the European Union closer together.

This is being recognised and understood. It is simply not easy to move suddenly from a difficult situation to constructive dialogue. This will take some time”, Kadagishvili said.

He added that the geopolitical situation would need to stabilise for the process to advance.

Kadagishvili expressed hope that the end of the war in Ukraine would become one of the turning points in this regard, adding that a reassessment of values was already taking place among populations in European countries.

“One thing is crucial: we have never abandoned our principles, values or choice. However, when we saw that Europe and certain EU bureaucracies were acting separately from European values and pursuing a policy of direct political manipulation, interference, violations of democratic principles and sovereignty, and, even worse, fuelling extreme confrontation within society in order to implement this policy, of course, we could not accept it. No normal government would accept this, and therefore we expressed our position clearly and firmly”, he continued.

He argued that this stance had ultimately produced results, claiming that Georgia had preserved peace and prevented external actors from manipulating the country.

“Ultimately, this produced results. We preserved peace in our country and did not allow anyone to manipulate it from outside. The role that could have been imposed on us in this great war would have been devastating; we avoided all of this. On the contrary, we maintained a path of stable development, and this trajectory continues to strengthen”, Kadagishvili concluded.