Georgian Parliament Speaker says Gov’t stays “true” to national interests amid pressures, reflects on three years of Ukraine war

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday said that on the third anniversary of the Ukraine war, the Government had remained steadfast in its commitment to national interests, despite domestic and international pressures, and noted that this was the reason why Georgian Dream had been reelected for the fourth time last October.

In his remarks, Papuashvili highlighted that the national interest remained as the guiding principle of the Georgian Government, adding that this was key to every decision since before and after the war started in Ukraine, exactly three years ago.

“The national interest remains, as it should be, the guiding principle of the Georgian government. It includes safeguarding of our independence and sovereignty, unification of the country, and sustaining our people’s welfare, and serves as the cornerstone of our foreign policy. This understanding of the national interest was key to every decision since before and after the war started in Ukraine, exactly three years ago”, he said.

“Let us follow the key events of the past few years to understand how our national interest shaped Georgia’s course. Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the Georgian Parliament passed a resolution on Ukraine, which spoke of the “inadmissibility of war” and called on all Governments to abstain from escalation. That Resolution, from over three years ago, echoes what the US Administration now offers as the cornerstone for peace”, the Speaker continued.

Papuashvili emphasised that after the war started, Georgian Government had offered full solidarity to the Ukrainian people:

• By co-sponsoring and joining every international political or legal document condemning the Russian aggression;
• By safeguarding the non-evasion of the international sanctions on Russia;
• By offering humanitarian aid to Ukraine;
• By sheltering tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, in addition to over 300,000 of our own internally displaced persons from the occupied territories.

TWITTER POST

“Despite pressure, however, we did not impose bilateral sanctions on Russia, or restrict the land or air movement because such escalation would not have been even noticeable for Russia but would have caused economic collapse for Georgia and triggered a new war, in absence of any international security support or economic safeguards for Georgia”, he noted.

Papuashvili further emphasised that despite the Government’s active solidarity with Ukraine, the reciprocal actions by the Zelenskyy administration had been incomprehensible, adding that only a week after the start of the war, the Ukrainian Government had recalled its ambassador from Georgia, and Zelenskyy himself had addressed the protesting crowd in front of the Georgian Parliament, tweeting that the people of Georgia had been “better than the Government”, noting thus “clearly encouraging the protest against the authorities in Tbilisi”.

“Ukrainian officials, including the President’s national security adviser, openly called on Georgians to overtake Russian occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region by force. The radical opposition and their affiliated NGOs declared “the bombs were better than the shame they had to endure”, because of the Georgian Government’s policies”, he said.

“The reaction from some Western capitals was not any better either. Despite the decade-long policy of “strategic patience”, which the Western countries had strongly suggested to Georgia, suddenly, our government was pushed to adopt an aggressive stance towards Russia, despite the lethal danger of the repeat aggression. This was happening without even a hint of either security guarantees or, at least, economic solidarity in case of escalation”, the Speaker highlighted.

He further added that ever since the first days of the Ukraine war, Georgia had to endure the domestic and international pressures to get in conflict with Russia in one or other form:

• Being denied EU candidate status in 2022 despite being a frontrunner in the Eastern Partnership, leading to protests from radical opposition parties and foreign-funded NGOs;
• Violent demonstrations and discrediting campaigns against the Government over the Law on the Transparency of Foreign Influence;
• Post-2024 Parliamentary elections, where radical opposition parties refused to enter Parliament, claiming election fraud despite OSCE/ODIHR reports supporting the legitimacy of the elections.

“Despite this permanent pressure, both from the domestic radicals as well as their foreign patrons, the Georgian Government steered the country around the landmines. We now know that the only landmark that helped us to direct our country in the right direction was our belief in our people’s wisdom and our commitment to the national interest”, Papuashvili pointed out.

Reflecting on past lessons, the official further highlighted the importance of prioritising national interests, noted that the Georgian Dream’s leadership had remained committed to safeguarding the nation’s sovereignty and resisting external pressures, ensuring that Georgia’s national interest continued to take precedence.

“We were pushed to subject our national interest to the ambiguous demands of the new pseudo-liberal international. This is not going to happen any time soon, not under the Georgian Dream’s watch”, Papuashvili concluded.