Speaker: When confrontation guides political decisions, it is inherently anti-European

“In two weeks, a meeting of EU foreign ministers will be held in Luxembourg, and, just as we did in the Belgian Parliament, we have also asked our colleagues here to work with EU institutions and convince them that the only right path is fair dialogue,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said.

According to Papuashvili, EU institutions should return to the path of dialogue.

“The European Union was created, by its very nature, to overcome confrontation, and when confrontation becomes the guiding principle behind political decisions for some, that is inherently anti-European. Therefore, we hope that representatives of both the Luxembourg and Belgian parliaments will work with EU institutions in this regard and convince them to return to the path of dialogue,” Papuashvili said.

According to him, Georgia welcomes the process whereby EU member states are increasingly making their voices heard by the bloc’s bureaucracy.

“We are generally observing a process in which EU member states are increasingly concerned and seeking to make their voices heard more strongly in Brussels. Calls for reforms aimed at structural changes are also directed toward this, because at some point it becomes clear from the outside as well that the EU bureaucracy has assumed a large share of power, while the voices of its member states are no longer being heard to the same extent.

“Therefore, I believe that this process is also part of the effort by member states to make their voices heard even more strongly in Brussels today. I am confident that this process will continue to develop in its logical direction,” Papuashvili said.