“I feel honored to visit the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Centre and talk about Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic agenda in a current complex geopolitical environment, exacerbated by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine, said Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili delivering a speech at the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Centre (E-ARC) in Romania.

According to the Speaker, ongoing developments are a vivid demonstration of Russia’s attempts to change borders in Europe by force and dismantle existing security architecture on the continent.

“From the outset of the Russia-Georgia war in 2008, we have tried to communicate our very clear message to the international community that the 2008 war should not be regarded as an isolated case but should be seen in the context of Russia’s revisionist policy. Indeed, Georgia withstood Russian aggression since the early 1990s when Moscow waged first proxy wars and then conducted aggressive and violent policy with the use of hybrid means of warfare. However, at that time we did not receive a proper reaction. We were called „alarmists“ by many in the West, despite Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea. And, then, we now witness the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Speaker noted that the repeated Russian invasion of Ukraine dramatically changed the geopolitical situation and, with it, the Western attitude.

“Now the West really opposes the Russian policy. Having experienced Russian aggression first-hand, Georgia abides by the approach of the West and stands in full solidarity with Ukraine. We firmly support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.