Parliament official says Georgia should not be treated as “testing ground” for experimental policies

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday said Brussels must understand that Georgia was located in a very unstable region from a geostrategic point of view.

In his interview with a Romanian outlet, Samkharadze emphasised the critical need for the European Union to understand that Georgia was a country under Russian occupation, leading to a very high risk of conflict escalation with Moscow.

“Brussels institutions should know that Georgia is not a country that can act in the same way as other countries, for example, Estonia. This is because Georgia is not under NATO's security umbrella and does not enjoy the economic solidarity of the European Union. Therefore, the European Union should not ask Georgia for something that is not used within the European Union. We should not be required to amend or adopt legislation that is not standard within EU member states”, the Parliament official said.

He further stressed that Georgia should not be treated as a testing ground for experimental policies.

“We have been very clear with our European partners that we are ready to move forward with reforms, align with European requirements, and harmonize our national legislation with EU standards. However, we do not want to be forced into making changes that even EU member states do not implement”, he noted.

Samkharadze further mentioned EU’s request for Georgia to amend the procedure for appointing the Prosecutor General, specifically by requiring a qualified majority of three-fifths.

“Yet, in EU countries, parliaments generally do not appoint prosecutors, and in cases where they do, the appointment is made by a simple majority. Another example concerns the electoral threshold: the EU is asking Georgia to lower it from 5 percent to 2 percent, while in most member states, the threshold remains at 5 percent”, he pointed out.

The official stressed that he did not understand how a percentage could define a country’s level of “Europeanness”.

“Beyond this concept, the real issue is ensuring stability and reducing polarisation within a fully proportional electoral system. I have yet to receive an explanation from the EU on why Georgia should lower its electoral threshold”, Samkharadze concluded.