MP Levan Makhashvili slams Marta Kos’s statement: Brussels expects candidate states to surrender all sovereignty over foreign policy

“The public has grown accustomed to listening to various declarations from Brussels representatives, yet EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos’s latest statement is utterly unacceptable,” declared MP Levan Makhashvili, Chairman of the Parliamentary European Integration Committee.

Makhashvili responded to remarks by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, who asserted that candidate nations seeking EU accession must sever ties with Donald Trump’s MAGA movement to secure EU membership.

“When viewed within the broader context of demands issued over recent years, it becomes clear that Brussels’ position towards candidate states is effectively this: countries must not open their eyes, must not breathe, and must hold no independent domestic or foreign policy without their permission.

We can now see the net result of this flawed policy. Brussels has alienated and severed ties with China, with Russia, and now, it appears, with the United States as well. Local election results in Iceland and Germany demonstrate that they are even losing the trust of their own populations. If they persist with such heavy-handed methods of dealing with allies, they will lose their partners altogether; this goes far beyond Georgia.

This is the desperate rhetoric of an actor that has lost every geopolitical game played over recent years. The public is well aware of Trump’s stance on the EU. One could hardly describe current US–EU relations as a partnership; you cannot call someone a partner when you are engaged in tariff wars with them, threatening to strip territory from their member states, and mercilessly criticising their leaders. Brussels’ misguided foreign policy has precipitated this breakdown between the two actors.

The US–EU relationship is hardly the first casualty. Before this came the fallout with Russia, followed by China. This is how Brussels has alienated its former allies. The crux of the matter is that it has failed to prove to its partners that it is a supportive ally and friend. Indeed, they could hardly explain it, because when you encourage domestic revolutions and overthrows, restrict economic autonomy, and effectively provoke escalation with Russia, you inevitably lose your partners,” Makhashvili stated.

The MP called on European officials to halt their missteps, rethink their strategy, and focus on rebuilding damaged alliances.

“This is a trend we have observed over the past five years; key trading partners being lost one by one: first Russia, then China, and now America. The weaker Brussels’ geopolitical hand becomes, the more heavy-handed its posture towards partners will grow. Yet this will not win them new allies; on the contrary, it will only alienate more.

Therefore, it is high time for Brussels to simply stop. Instead of taking further erroneous steps, they should hit pause, fundamentally rethink their flawed foreign policy, and focus on winning back their partners,” Makhashvili concluded.