Georgian PM says EU’s double standards toward Georgia “shameful”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday criticised what he described as the European Union’s “shameful double standards” in its approach toward Georgia, accusing European institutions of directly pressuring the country to join sanctions against Russia.

Speaking to journalists, Kobakhidze said that European bureaucracy has now openly demanded that Georgia align itself with sanctions, a step he said had previously been avoided or raised indirectly.

“There is a complete exposure of everything we have been talking about. European bureaucracy is now directly demanding that we join the sanctions. Previously, they avoided talking about this as much as possible, then they quietly inserted it into a European Parliament resolution, and now the executive branch is also demanding that we join the sanctions. I would like to remind you that back in 2022 we conducted a simple calculation and found that joining the sanctions would have caused at least a 10 percent decline in Georgia’s economy”, the PM said.

He said there was no justification for such a move, prompting the Government to make a decision based on national interests.

“Naturally, there was no justification for this, and therefore we made a decision in line with national interests. Later, even the radical opposition distanced itself from this demand. They claimed they had never demanded that Georgia join the sanctions. In reality, different processes were taking place, and now the executive branch is directly demanding that we join the sanctions, which is a complete exposure”, he continued.

Kobakhidze reminded that no one from the European bureaucracy had ever made the same demand of, for example, Moldova, Armenia, or any other country.

“In this case, Ms. Kallas will not be able to say that Moldova does not want to join the European Union. Double standards are everywhere. There are prime ministers of certain countries who can fly from Europe to Moscow”, he said.

“We have nothing against this - it is the business of those respective countries - but double standards are bad, and this is what we are seeing from European bureaucracy. In one case, something may be acceptable, while in another case, with ten times fewer grounds, it may provoke a sharply negative reaction. The double standards that the European Union demonstrates toward Georgia are shameful”, Kobakhidze concluded.