Georgian Parliament Speaker: Brussels bureaucracy comes and goes, but bilateral ties must be preserved

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Friday that Brussels had adopted a confrontational approach, hindering not only Georgia’s European integration process but also high-level relations between Georgia and EU member states.

Speaking during his official visit to Italy, Papuashvili said the conference had provided an important opportunity to address speakers of European parliaments on issues including the erosion of the rules-based international order.

He stressed that this erosion had begun with declining trust in international institutions, arguing that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was among those undermining such trust by violating the principle of national sovereignty through its refusal to ratify the credentials of Georgia’s parliamentary delegation.

Papuashvili said he had also discussed the issue during a bilateral meeting with the PACE President, adding that Georgia’s position had been clearly conveyed.

“As long as the sovereignty of the Georgian people continues to be undermined by the Parliamentary Assembly, they will not see our delegation at the Assembly. It is time for the Assembly to return to respecting democracy and the right of peoples to choose their own governments”, he said.

The Parliament Speaker added that Georgia’s delegation would return to the Assembly once it restored respect for the fundamental principles of international law.

He also highlighted his bilateral meetings with international counterparts, including the Speaker of the Italian Parliament, noting that Georgia and Italy maintained longstanding friendly relations.

Papuashvili said the meetings were important for reaffirming the value of bilateral ties at a time when Brussels was pursuing a confrontational policy that, he argued, was obstructing both Georgia’s European integration and high-level engagement between Georgia and EU member states.

He noted that not all countries were following Brussels’ calls and emphasised the importance of preserving bilateral relations.

“Brussels bureaucracy comes and goes, but people remain. It is important that we safeguard our bilateral relations so that we will not be ashamed to look each other in the eye when the current Brussels bureaucracy changes”, Papuashvili concluded.