“We acted in Georgia’s national interests, not according to Brussels’ directives. If we had followed their guidance, we would now be an economically and physically shattered nation,” wrote Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili on social media.

He emphasised that no one will prioritise Georgia’s interests above their own.

“These charts compare Georgia’s and Moldova’s economic growth from 2021 to 2024. In 2021, Moldova emerged from the COVID-19-induced recession stronger than we, with a 13.9% growth rate. Since the start of the war [in Ukraine], however, Moldova has faced severe economic stagnation, with indicators fluctuating near zero.

While in 2021, Georgia’s budget was USD 2.4 billion larger than Moldova’s, by 2025, our budget will surpass Moldova’s by USD 4.8 billion, doubling the gap over five years.

All this occurred while Moldova was granted [EU] candidate status, negotiations were opened, promises of prosperity were made, and they even sought to set us up as a model of development. Meanwhile, we were subjected to unjust attacks and Soviet-style threats.

So, what happened? What did we do, or fail to do, that made Georgia the leader in economic growth among European countries, while Moldova remains mired in severe stagnation?

The answer is clear: we prioritised Georgia’s national interests over Brussels’ directives. Had we followed Brussels’ instructions, we would be an economically and physically devastated country today.

This development serves as a lesson for everyone to understand: no one will put our country’s interests above their own. We learned this lesson when Kyiv asked us to send fighters officially; we learned it when Brussels urged us to close the border with Russia; and we continue to learn it when they speak beautiful words about Ukraine being the front line of the European Union, yet refuse to shed their own blood on that front,” wrote Shalva Papuashvili.