Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker says Brussels, not Tbilisi, has drifted away from European idea

Nino Tsilosani, an MP for the ruling Georgian Dream party and Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday said Georgia has not deviated from its course toward the European Union.

In her interview with Imedi TV, Tsilosani noted it was the European Union itself - specifically Brussels bureaucracy -that has strayed from the Western course and betrayed the core idea of Europe.

Tsilosani responded to a statement by the European Commissioner Marta Kos, who said that in order for Georgia to continue its European accession process, the Georgian Government must change its approaches and agenda.

“The fact is that Georgia has not deviated from the course of the European Union. The one who deviated from the course was the European Union itself and Brussel’s bureaucracy, which deviated from the course of the West and betrayed the idea of the European Union. It is not us but members of the European Union themselves, some of their leaders and most importantly, the President of the United States, his administration and many representatives, who talk about it”, Tsilosani said.

“For European Union bureaucrats, it seems that democracy is when they replace the elected Government with a Government of their own choosing. For them, democracy is when you are used as a weapon of war against the interests of your own country. Such misunderstandings, of course, indicate that there is something wrong with the thinking or goals of these European Union bureaucrats themselves. Let's leave it at that, all this is harmful to the idea of ​​the European Union itself, we know very well what is good for our country”, she continued.

She further added that the Government understood very well that this small group of political bureaucrats was upset with the Georgian people and they would do everything they could to punish Georgia and the Georgian people with the mechanisms at their disposal.