“When many European countries are facing economic crises and have economic challenges, Georgia’s economy is growing because we did not believe Brussels,” Georgia’s Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told journalists.

According to Papuashvili, if Georgia had believed Brussels, the country would today be in economic collapse.

“When many European countries are facing economic crises and have economic challenges, Georgia’s economy is growing. Why is this happening?! Because we did not believe Brussels in everything. Had we believed Brussels, Georgia would today be in economic collapse. Had we imposed sanctions, closed borders and so forth, we would have had more than a 10% economic decline in Georgia. More than we had during the pandemic, and in total, we would have had the results of the 1990s.

This is what the so-called advice coming from Brussels was pushing us towards, which was in reality simply an attempt to achieve some geopolitical goals with Russia at Georgia’s expense. So cold-bloodedly, ignoring our citizens’ interests, they would have thrown us into the abyss of economic crisis and most likely would have thrown us into a new war, when Brussels was calling on us towards escalation with Russia.

These economic results are the consequence of not believing Brussels, and it would have been even better were it not for the harmful financing from Brussels of those revolutionary processes which are now being revealed through the investigation underway at the Prosecutor’s Office. It’s directly evident that European Union money was being spent on equipping participants in violent rallies so they could resist the police.

I remind you, all these testimonies confirmed that these NGOs, which are funded by the European Union, were providing participants in violent rallies with equipment for resisting police. All of this was happening with European Union money, and let the EU Ambassador be so kind as to give the Georgian people an answer regarding this: does he intend to investigate how much of his money was being spent, does he intend to take responsibility for the fact that in December 2024, European Union citizens’ money was being spent on equipping participants in violent rallies,” declared Shalva Papuashvili.

The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament went on to say that the government “observe that Brussels has, unfortunately, strayed from European values, which fundamentally encompass dialogue and conversation.” Papuashvili further added that it is difficult to see any real connection with European values or methods in the approaches currently prevailing in Brussels.

According to Papuashvili, despite attacks and false narratives from Brussels bureaucracy, Georgia is moving forward economically, and peace and stability are ensured in our country.

“We did not free ourselves from Moscow’s influence merely for Brussels to now regard us with the same arrogance that the centre once displayed towards us during the Soviet era. Ultimately, it is for them to decide. Once again, this shows that people and bureaucrats, bogged down in paperwork, fail to see the people of another country; they do not see Georgians. In the end, they are damaging themselves in the eyes of the Georgian people. As for Georgia, despite the attacks and false claims propagated by the Brussels bureaucracy, the country is experiencing economic development, and peace and stability are being maintained. Therefore, whoever is being harmed, it is Brussels and Brussels’ reputation in the eyes of Georgians that is being damaged,” declared Shalva Papuashvili.