“Over the past three years, Georgia made difficult yet necessary decisions — decisions based on clear-eyed analysis of the magnitude of threats – to ensure peace and preserve our statehood,” stated Levan Makhashvili, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration, at a joint session of the three OSCE committees.

He emphasized that navigating ongoing geopolitical shifts requires caution and unity, particularly for Georgia and other small states.

“Drawing from our own experiences of past three conflicts with Russia in the 1990s and in 2008, as well as ongoing Russian occupation of Georgia’s two historic regions, we understood that the only way to survive this once-in-a-lifetime geopolitical earthquake was to set aside emotions and to act pragmatically.

Over the past three years, Georgia made difficult yet necessary decisions — decisions based on clear-eyed analysis of the magnitude of threats – to ensure peace and preserve our statehood.

While we were called all sorts of labels by some hot minds, all we were doing was indeed to survive. And the ongoing developments on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine indicates to only one thing – we made right decisions.

For small states like Georgia and many of you in this room, the path forward in this ever-changing geopolitical landscape requires both caution and unity. We must navigate these turbulent times by supporting one another, not undermining each other by illegal foreign interference and disinformation that we heard today in this room too.

It is only through solidarity—and through respecting each other’s democratic cultures and currents—that we can shield our societies from the destabilizing effects of external interference,” Levan Makhashvili stated.