Speaker: Our problem is with Brussels, not the EU — if they want us in EU, they must change their policy

“Brussels is acting against the interests of the European Union. We have no problem with Europe or the European Union; our problem is with Brussels, which is acting against the EU’s interests,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuasvili told journalists.

Papuasvili said Georgia wants a strong and fair European Union, which he argued is being hindered by the current European bureaucracy.

“The election results we have seen recently — what was the referendum in Iceland if not confirmation of what we have been arguing? Iceland is connected to the European Union in every possible way. In fact, they are one formal step short of being called an EU member; otherwise, they are integrated in every respect. Can you imagine? They have such a high level of integration, yet they became afraid not only of membership but even of reopening negotiations. The referendum concerned the resumption of negotiations, and they became afraid even of that because they realized that it could introduce certain risks,” Papuasvili said.

He rejected claims by the opposition that Icelanders had sacrificed their European future because of strict EU fishing regulations.

“There is talk that the European Union has strict fishing regulations and that Icelanders sacrificed their European future over fishing. This is what the opposition is saying today. The European Union offered Iceland special exemptions from the regulations and a separate agreement on fishing that would take Iceland’s interests into account. This is precisely the main point: Brussels made this commitment, but Iceland did not trust that commitment. Brussels has lost the trust of everyone, including the Georgian people,” Papuasvili said.

According to Papuasvili, Georgia’s goal as a European country and an EU candidate country is to see a change in Brussels’ policies.

“We are trying to make Brussels change its course. The current composition of the Brussels bureaucracy is, of course, acting against the interests of the European Union. The US administration has been saying exactly this for quite some time,” he said.

“Our goal, as a European country and an EU candidate country, is also to see Brussels’ policy change. If they want us to become a member of the European Union, they must change their policy. Otherwise, it is impossible. We cannot be a member of a European Union with such a policy, one that has a confused foreign policy and is no longer respected by anyone in international affairs,” Papuasvili said.

He also pointed to what he described as a lack of engagement between US and EU officials.

“The US Secretary of State does not even meet Kaja Kallas; the US Secretary of State has not met the EU’s foreign affairs chief even once. This says more than anything else,” he said.

“Therefore, we want a strong and fair European Union, which is being hindered by the current European bureaucracy,” Papuasvili added.