MP Makhashvili: How can Georgia have best economy among candidate countries amid democratic setbacks?

“The Georgian public will not find anything in the European Commission’s enlargement report that they haven’t already heard over the past year,” stated MP Levan Makhashvili, Chairman of the Parliament’s European Integration Committee.

Makhashvili explained that the report will be divided into four parts: the first concerning political matters, the second focusing on sectoral developments, the third addressing regional cooperation, and the fourth dedicated to economic assessment.

“The first part will be political, where we will once again hear familiar accusations. The second part will evaluate sectoral progress; we expect to see improvements in more than half of the sectors. The third will assess regional cooperation, considering Georgia’s attitude, role, and position within the region. The final, the economic section, is where we anticipate a positive assessment of Georgia’s performance over the past year,” Makhashvili elaborated.

He also expressed the hope of gaining clarity on Brussels’ stance regarding the attempted coup.

“We would like to hear Brussels’ position on the attempted coup d’état, rather than these issues being bundled together into a single report. It would be beneficial if they could clearly state their stance. Of course, we acknowledge that there are disagreements on the political front; there are aspects on which our assessments of the country’s state and the paths taken differ. The most indicative measure, however, is the economy. The report itself reflects the significant economic progress Georgia has made. But how can Georgia boast the best economic indicators among all candidate countries when there is an unprecedented backsliding in democracy? When civil space is being constricted and social development is being stifled, how is this possible? We are left questioning how such radically contradictory indicators can coexist,” concluded Levan Makhashvili.