“So here we go again, giving out about foreign interference in Georgia while brazenly interfering ourselves. We never talk about the reality of life in a country where almost a quarter of the population lives abroad driven out by abject poverty and non-existent labor rights. The median wage in Georgia is about 360 euros a month,” stated MEP Clare Daly during a debate on Georgia at the European Parliament.

“Emigration is the main thing Georgians expect for EU membership. They’re not starry-eyed believers in our values. They have much bigger problems to worry about. And while the EU zealously warns of the rule of law over every aspect of Georgian law and society to see if it measures up to our values, it does absolutely nothing to improve wages or conditions in Georgia, you couldn’t care less about them. Georgia’s NGO class is absolutely maximalist when it comes to liberal reforms, but like the EU is meekly minimalist when it comes to the building blocks of a decent life, workers’ rights, minimum wage, or social security. That’s what happens when your grassroots movement is led from the top and powered by grant money, you’d see deeper roots. Would we stop interfering and allow the Georgians to stand up for their own future?” She declared.