Georgian PM: constitutional commitment to European integration not up for debate

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday said his Government would not consider changing the foreign policy path, noting that European integration was enshrined in the Constitution, a step undertaken by the Georgian Dream Government.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze noted that reviewing what was established in the Constitution was not a subject for debate.

“We, as the Government, are not discussing the possibility of changing course. It is enshrined in the Constitution, and our Government ensured that European integration is our constitutional task”, the PM said.

“Every topic can be discussed with its pros and cons, especially against the backdrop of fake campaigns. The public is misled - for instance, by claims such as Eka Gigauri [the Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia] presenting a declaration once a year and tomorrow we’d wake up in Chelyabinsk. Similarly, people are told that if we join the EU, tomorrow we’d wake up in Brussels or Berlin. This is also false”, he continued.

Kobakhidze further added that people were shown clips suggesting that after Estonia joined the EU, its economy doubled, etc.

“If you look at the period since 2003, when Estonia joined, and compare economic growth in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and so on, and then look at Georgia’s growth over the same period, Georgia’s economy has grown even more than those countries that joined the EU”, he said.

Kobakhidze stressed that such matters should not be manipulated, nor should excessive emotions be stirred in society.

“Debates should not question what is written in the Constitution. These debates allow people to say, for instance, that widely circulated information - like economic claims - is entirely false. Some use this to provoke excessive emotions in the public, which are then directed against their own country. This is wrong”. The PM noted.

“The public must understand clearly that exaggerated expectations should not form, and what the economic consequences of Euro-integration are, what its pros and cons are, and from other perspectives, what benefits and drawbacks Euro-integration entails. Discussions on this are completely appropriate”, Kobakhidze concluded.