Georgian Parliament official: EU must return to its core values

Levan Makhashvili, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration, on Tuesday stressed that the European Union needed fundamental reforms and a return to its founding values before normal civil relations with Georgia, the United States, and other partners could be restored.

In his remarks, Makhashvili highlighted that the European Union, through either silence or direct support, has encouraged political unrest and radicalisation in Georgia.

“This is precisely the organisation that, over all these years, encouraged violence and radicalization - sometimes through silence, and sometimes through active political or financial support. Therefore, we do not expect them [to distance themselves from this], but we will continue to spread these calls”, he said.

The official warned that short-lived disinformation campaigns were being used as pretexts for punitive measures, but these narratives could be quickly exposed as false.

“We also see that they try to use new disinformation campaigns as a pretext for comparatively severe decisions. But these disinformation campaigns last only 5-6 days - they are simple falsehoods. Everything can easily be exposed. No matter how much they try to shift the centre of gravity toward Georgia, the main reason and source of the deterioration in this relationship is Brussels itself”, he noted.

Makhashvili further argued that only a genuine return to the principles that initially inspired admiration for the EU could pave the way for restoring healthy, civil relations with Georgia, the US, and other international stakeholders.

“As the US mentioned in its security strategy, Brussels itself must change, return to the values that made us call it the European Union, the values for which we admired and loved it. Only then will it be possible to restore normal civil relations with Georgia, the United States, and other actors”, Makhashvili concluded.