Speaker Papuashvili: Georgia and Moldova’s EU paths incomparable as Chisinau ‘does not value independence’

“We used to complain that some in Brussels view European integration as a restriction of sovereignty; as it turns out, in Moldova’s case, it is no longer about restricting sovereignty, but about dissolving the state altogether,” stated the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

According to him, it is impossible to compare Georgia’s and Moldova’s paths toward European integration.

“The Moldovan government attaches no value to its own sovereignty and independence. What on earth have they been building for the past 35 years? What kind of country were they constructing, what statehood were they creating, when the state, sovereignty, and independence mean absolutely nothing to them? That is their choice. This is precisely why it is impossible to compare Georgia’s and Moldova’s paths to European integration. It has become clear to everyone that the Moldovan government does not view its own country’s independence as a value.

We are in a completely different position. We possess a continuous, millennia-long history of statehood. A Georgian could not even fathom the idea of dissolving their own state for the sake of a European concept.
This also reveals what is truly happening behind the scenes regarding EU enlargement. Moldova appears to have lost hope over EU enlargement. We see Moldova being demonstratively paraded as a ‘model student’ in the European integration process.

Yet, discussions around dismantling the country’s statehood to facilitate EU entry through Romania imply that Moldova is pursuing a backdoor route into the European Union. It seems that what is left unsaid publicly is well understood internally: Brussels is gradually backtracking on its EU enlargement commitments,” Shalva Papuashvili stated.

For context, the lower house of the Romanian Parliament recently adopted a bill, introduced by MEP Diana Șoșoacă, on the unification of Romania and Moldova.