Georgia’s ruling party Sec Gen: EU using integration benefits as tool against Georgian people

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday sharply criticised the European Union, accusing it of turning the benefits associated with Georgia’s European integration process into a tool of pressure against the Georgian people.

In his remarks, Kaladze noted that if anyone wanted to launch accession talks and to admit Georgia to the European Union, the Georgian Government was ready.

“There is an unfair attitude toward Georgia, and this is not the first time. In general, the European Union has been using the benefits associated with the process of European integration as a tool against the Georgian state and the Georgian people over the past years and months. This is very serious. When their statements and resolutions are filled with lies, of course, this has nothing to do with Europe, the European future, or the process of European integration. These are political statements, part of a process full of lies and slander. Naturally, certain European bureaucrats are responsible for this, whose messages are entirely based on falsehoods”, the ruling party official said.

“I repeat it once again: the only remaining tool they have is the issue of visa liberalisation, and they are now using that for blackmail. What does this even have to do with the [domestic] laws that have been adopted? There’s a double standard here. They adopt such laws in their own countries, they are in effect there, but supposedly, we in Georgia can’t adopt them? Are you telling me the Georgian state or even the Georgian people shouldn’t know where the black money that finances political parties, TV stations, and a coup d’état comes from? Apparently, we are not supposed to know this, and it's considered a crime. Can you imagine? Is this a normal attitude? How can transparency ever be considered bad or contrary to a European future?”, he continued.

Kaladze recalled that the EU had earlier used the issue of granting candidate status as leverage, which Georgia was denied. According to him, this was because the country refused to open a “second front” in the war and declined to join sanctions against Russia.

“Do they think we’re fools? Who would say visa liberalisation is bad? On the contrary, it’s a good thing, it’s a benefit. But when two important matters are on the scale, and we are being blackmailed with this issue, being told to give up the country’s interests - it is unthinkable to accept such a decision. This isn’t the first instance of blackmail. Before this, we were blackmailed with the [EU membership] candidate status. We weren’t granted it. There were two reasons for that: the country didn’t get involved in the war - no second front was opened - and the country didn’t join the sanctions. Why should we take such a step? If you’re a friend of my country and want its development and care for the Georgian people and state, why are you urging us to do something that we know would harm our country and people? Had we made that mistake and joined the sanctions, what kind of economic situation would we be in now?” Kaladze said.

He also claimed that there was evidence of direct pressure on the Georgian Government to engage in the war, which could be made public if necessary.

“There were direct threats, blackmail, and insults in the Prime Minister’s office, demanding that we open a second front in the country - promises that they would help us with everything, that all the necessary equipment would be provided, and so on. Of course, there is evidence of this, and if necessary, we will act, but again, based on the country's interests, it is better the way things are now”, he concluded.