Parliament official says rebooting EU relations possible only through mutual respect, not political blackmail

Maia Bitadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Environment Protection and Natural Resources Committee, on Friday accused the European Union's Ambassador to Georgia of employing “blackmail” against the Georgian people.

In her remarks, Bitadze expressed deep concern over what she described as repeated use of the EU membership process as political leverage against the Georgian people.

“Unfortunately, once again, the statement we heard today from the EU Ambassador shows us that EU integration, membership, and the candidate status - the whole history we remember - is being used to blackmail the Georgian people in hopes that they might overthrow their government through violence”, the Parliament official said.

She further stressed that European capitals still fail to understand that such a scenario “will never happen again in this country”.

“We’ve seen numerous visits - both at executive and legislative levels - to EU countries and international organisations. These included high-level visits during which we discussed, in working format, the very challenges that, by the way, were created with the involvement of the EU delegation to Georgia. And that’s because the Georgian Government, the Georgian Dream, didn’t follow the direct instructions that were given - the consequences of which we now clearly see. We now see very plainly what kind of disastrous outcomes could have resulted for Georgia had we followed all those directives given by European capitals”, she continued.

She further noted that despite the challenging geopolitical environment, Georgia was thriving economically, and its people were determined to preserve national identity and autonomy.

“Amid the global competition between major powers, it is crucial not only to preserve our identity, history, and religion, but to ensure our survival. Georgia is a country with 20 percent of its territory occupied by Russia, surrounded by states either at war or with frozen conflicts - and yet, Georgia is progressing. Our economic growth indicators are at an all-time high. I think it is clear now that the Georgian people will not easily succumb to this kind of blackmail. EU membership is not something Georgians want just to be governed from somewhere else. Georgians do not care whether directives come from Brussels, Moscow, or any other capital. So, the only acceptable path for renewing relations with the EU is one based on friendship and equality”, she continued.

On the United States policy, Bitadze dismissed the recently reintroduced MEGOBARI Act, initiated by Congressman Joe Wilson, as a relic of an earlier, hostile agenda, claiming Wilson participated in attempts to orchestrate a coup in Georgia and insisted the bill did not represent the Biden administration’s official stance.