Georgian Parliament Speaker links upward economic growth forecasts to Georgia’s defiance of Brussels

The upward revisions to Georgia’s economic growth forecasts by various international institutions are directly linked to the fact that “we do not listen to Brussels”, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Wednesday.

In his remarks, Papuashvili said Brussels had made numerous attempts to drag Georgia into an escalation for its own purposes and was willing to harm the Georgian people simply to deliver “some kind of jab at Russia”.

“When they themselves can inflict serious damage on Russia through economic or other decisions, let them go and fight in this war. Instead, they are trying to use Georgia and others to achieve their objectives. Just as they are harming Moldova, they were harming us as well. Moldova’s economic growth rates are hovering around zero. We would have been harmed in the same way, and even worse. Unlike Moldova, we share a border with Russia, and we would have faced other challenges as well”, he said.

“We did not listen to Brussels, and the Georgian people won. Our economy is growing. Had we listened to Brussels, our economy would have been in decline. This is the main lesson we have learned from this entire episode: do not listen to Brussels, because Brussels seeks to advance its own interests at the expense of your interests. They want to confront Russia at the expense of our economy and security. All these economic growth figures testify to the main principled decision, which is not to listen to Brussels. Secondly, they are the result of sound economic policy, which is delivering these economic results despite not following Brussels’ advice”, Papuashvili concluded.