Ruling Party Sec Gen says no better Union than EU, but current developments troubling

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said that while the EU remains the best union ever established, it has become detached from the very values that the Georgian people and state have long aspired to.

In his remarks, Kaladze noted that European bureaucracy created “serious problems both for Europe itself and for partner countries”.

“The European Union, in its essence and foundation, has been very good, and there has never been a better union. But what we have seen lately, the processes that are unfolding, it is a rather difficult situation. The EU is absolutely emptied of the values that the Georgian people and our state have been striving for. European bureaucracy today has created serious problems both for Europe itself and for partner countries”, the ruling party official said.

He further argued that recent remarks by some EU representatives regarding Georgia were “incompatible with the obligations” under the Association Agreement.

“For us, the most important thing is the interests of our country. The demands we are hearing are absolutely incompatible with the obligations under the Association Agreement, which the Georgian state is fulfilling scrupulously. You cannot name a single example of something unfulfilled. Human rights are protected in this country as never before”, Kaladze noted.

“What they appeal to is a double standard. Everyone remembers what was happening in the country before 2012. If human rights were being violated, it was precisely during that period. You could not express a different opinion - you would be arrested, your family would be harassed, property taken away - and this was called a ‘beacon of democracy’. Can you imagine? What was happening before 2012 was supposedly a beacon of democracy, while today’s reality is presented as problematic. Do you really think people are blind to what the real situation was then and is now? People can analyse and that is why they always make the right decision, as they did in the parliamentary elections in October”, he added.

The official further emphasised that Georgia would continue to fully comply with all obligations under the Association Agreement.

“Everything stipulated in the Association Agreement will be implemented scrupulously. As for politically motivated statements that transparency is somehow bad - throughout all this time, has anyone explained why transparency is bad? The only answer we hear is ‘because’. This is not serious”, he said.

“The Prime Minister has said clearly: we are ready to sit down with the diplomatic corps - bring us examples, arguments, why transparency is bad or why this legislation contradicts a European future and European values. There has been no answer, because we know what is really happening”, Kaladze concluded.