Parliament Speaker: EU failure to grant Georgia candidate status would embolden “radical scenario” by “destructive forces”

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said the European Union not granting Georgia its membership candidate status would work to embolden a “radical scenario” by “destructive forces” in the country.

In comments on the upcoming decision on the status by EU bodies later this year, the Parliament official claimed the country had “proved itself” as the “greatest ally” of the West in the region over the past 30 years.

“With all sincere, honest, objective assessments, Georgia deserves the membership candidate status. Therefore, if Georgia again faces such a decision that the status is not granted, first of all, we should think about what is behind such a decision and what is the motive”, Papuashvili said.

The Parliament official stressed the country was a “frontrunner” in the region in terms of democratisation, and was ahead of some EU member countries on “many issues”.

“If Georgia does not receive the membership candidate status, this may only have political implications - the destructive forces planning to disrupt Georgia will be given the opportunity to implement a radical scenario”, he said.

“We are wondering about how Europe sees its attitude towards Georgia, how it evaluates the 30-year struggle of the Georgian people to return to the European family”, Papuashvili added.