MEP Thierry Mariani claims EU seeks to oust Serbia and Georgia’s governments over independent policies

French MEP Thierry Mariani on Thursday sharply criticised the European Union’s latest enlargement report, describing it as biased and “resembling a movie script with a predictable ending”.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Mariani noted that Brussels wanted to change the governments in Belgrade and Tbilisi because they were putting the interests of their own citizens first and were not prioritising Brussels’ orders.

“I did read the report on the enlargement process and the list of countries included in this process. To be honest, it's a bit funny. I got the impression that I was reading a movie script, and one where you know the ending from the very first sentence. Why? Because there are good and bad characters. In this case, the ‘bad guys’ are Georgia and Serbia, since the EU's assessment of Serbia and Georgia is almost identical”, the MEP said.

“They said that democracy is not developing [in Georgia and Serbia], that they have many problems. Why? Because these two countries - Georgia and Serbia - want to be independent, they want to have a policy that corresponds to their own state interests and not take orders from Brussels. Their assessment is actually very predictable. It is clear what the goal of Brussels - the European Commission and the European Parliament - is: they want to change the governments in Belgrade and Tbilisi, even if the recent elections in Georgia produced clear results. Why? Because the governments of these two countries put the interests of their own citizens first and do not prioritise orders from Brussels”, he continued.

Mariani further criticised the European Commission's recent comment that there was progress in democracy in Ukraine, Moldova and Kosovo.

“The European Union's opinion on these two countries [Georgia and Serbia] is that these states are not ready for membership. Of course, this is because these countries want to maintain an independent policy. On the other hand, we have, so to speak, three good students - Ukraine, Moldova and Kosovo. For example, they said about Ukraine that they have made great progress in democracy. Where do they see democracy in Ukraine? They have the opposition in prison or they have it suppressed. This is ridiculous. How can there be progress in Moldova when they held fake elections in which half of the citizens did not vote. Therefore, the content of the report on enlargement is not surprising to me”, he noted.

Mariani added that “if your government aligns with Brussels’ agenda, you receive a good assessment. If not, the opposite happens”.

“That's exactly what happened, and that's why I'm not surprised by this situation. There were [local] elections in Georgia a few weeks ago, where the Georgian Dream [party] won, and this result is unacceptable for the European Commission and the European Parliament. But why? After all, this is the choice of the Georgian people”, he added.

The MEP further noted that this attitude was absolutely unfair.

“The EU has its own political agenda, which may differ from the will of individual nations - and even from the choice of their citizens. For example, when we received the former Georgian President, who no longer represented anything and whose mandate had expired, in the European Parliament and at this time we accepted her speech as if the [ex-President] had some function, it is completely unfair. It is unfair when we have double standards from the very beginning. For example, when we talk about the rights of the opposition. When I look at the situation of the opposition, I would rather be an opposition force in Georgia than in Ukraine. However, in the case of Ukraine, everything is acceptable to the European Union. This report is not surprising, it is unfair”, he stressed.

He further noted that the European Union should accept all state’s elections.

“Look at what is happening in the case of Hungary and Slovakia. Hungary and Slovakia have legally elected governments, but they refuse to take orders from Brussels. They have many problems with the European Commission. I support the existence of the European Union, but now the question is, is today's European Union what its founders dreamed of?! The dream was cooperation, respecting states, not giving orders to states. I am very afraid of the evolution of the European Union. This is not a democratic union, but I have the impression that the same thing is happening as happened in Eastern Europe in the 50s and 60s”, he concluded.