Georgian Parliament official criticises Brussels’ perception of reality

Levan Makhashvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Integration Committee, on Thursday sharply criticised the European Union’s approach to countries seeking membership, suggesting that Brussels is either misleading itself or has lost touch with reality.

Speaking on recent developments, Makhashvili commented on what he sees as the EU bureaucracy’s growing detachment from the realities on the ground for aspiring member states.

“Given recent developments, it can probably be said directly that Brussels is either deceiving itself, or at worst, has lost its grip on reality. Unfortunately, today's Brussels policy is a blind self-flow. They have been victims of their own policies or political mistakes for years, and instead of saving face, looking at events realistically, they continue to pursue their old, wrong, unjust policies”, Makhashvili said.

“We observe and see, of course, that the process of European integration is increasingly based on political interests and less on real progress of aspiring countries. If this political interest fits in, then it turns out that it is possible to turn a blind eye to corruption scandals of a historical scale, economic stagnation, the banning of political parties, and total control of the media”, he concluded.