Georgian Parliament official rejects any trade-off between EU membership and territorial integrity

Davit Matikashvili, the chair of the committee on procedural issues and rules of the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday said that Georgia would “never choose” a path that would require the country to give up its territories or independence in exchange for opening the door to membership in the European Union.

Matikashvili was responding to comments made by Peter Fischer, the German Ambassador to Georgia, who said that “Georgia has separated itself from the common path toward the European Union together with Ukraine and Moldova”.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Matikashvili noted that statements of this kind from Fischer are frequent and accused representatives of what he described as “Eurocracy” of demonstrating a desire for pressure and coercion.

“If abandoning territories is the condition for Georgia to have the door to the European Union opened, then we can clearly say that Georgia will never choose this path. We will never renounce our territories or independence”, he stressed.

The official argued that, based on “objective measurable data”, Georgia performs better than both Moldova and Ukraine in fulfilling obligations related to democracy and the rule of law.

“Back when the European Union was created around the values of protecting and respecting human rights, safeguarding media and freedom of speech, preserving independence and sovereignty, and ensuring peace - all of this has today been practically leveled to nothing by the Eurocrats who currently run the EU”, Matikashvili concluded.