Georgian Parliament Speaker criticises Brussels over sanctions pressure

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday sharply criticised the European Union and its bureaucratic and political circles, claiming they were detached from the interests of their own citizens.

In his remarks, Papuashvili claimed that Europe today was governed by minority-led administrations that lack popular support.

“What we have seen recently, and now the US administration has also confirmed, is the EU’s backward movement in terms of values and democracy. Every decision we observe only reveals Brussels’ true colours. Europe today is ruled by minority governments without popular backing - a system they wanted, including for Georgia. Any decision will merely serve as a critique of Brussels itself. It won’t affect our policy direction”, the Speaker said.

He further added that today, the European Union demanded that Georgia impose sanctions on Russia and Belarus, which was a direct push for Georgia to enter into an escalation with Russia.

“This is a direct push for Georgia to enter into an escalation with Russia, this is a direct push for us to enter into both an economic and political escalation, and at the end of this escalation there is a military confrontation, the authors of this statement are either naive and do not understand, or they are destructive persons and are forcibly pushing us towards an escalation that will end in war”, he concluded.