TBILISI, November 5 – Tbilisi has fired back at Brussels over the European Commission’s latest enlargement report, accusing the EU of political bias, disrespect, and interference in Georgia’s domestic affairs. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said Tuesday that if there is any “backsliding,” it is in Brussels, not in Georgia.
In a series of statements responding to the report, Papuashvili described the EU’s criticism as a “bureaucratic attack” driven by ideology rather than facts. He said the document reflected “Brussels’ view from the office, not the real Georgia,” and accused EU institutions of abandoning the very values they claim to defend.
According to Papuashvili, the EU is trying to pressure Georgia into political conformity and even provoke deeper conflict with Russia “at the cost of Georgia’s security and territorial integrity.” He also accused Brussels of ignoring violent protests near the presidential residence on October 4, which he said were an attempted coup supported by “some representatives in Brussels.”
Papuashvili argued that Georgia’s record in governance and rule of law is improving, citing international indices that place the country ahead of many EU members on anti-corruption and institutional quality. “The political section of the EU report is full of hostility and falsehoods,” he said, adding that the country continues to score strongly in global rule-of-law and transparency rankings.
The ruling Georgian Dream party insists it has not frozen the EU accession process, as claimed in Brussels, but that it is the European Commission itself that has refused to move negotiations forward. “It is Brussels that avoids dialogue and prefers an arrogant tone,” Papuashvili said.
He further accused EU institutions of hypocrisy for labeling Georgia’s foreign influence transparency law “undemocratic” despite similar legislation existing in several Western countries. Brussels, he said, is trying to silence critics while funding “radical NGOs and disinformation media.”
Despite the harsh words, Papuashvili said Georgia remains committed to joining the European Union, just not, as he put it, “the kind of Union that Brussels’ bureaucracy has emptied of European substance.” He said the government will continue preparing the country for membership “based on true European values, tolerance, the rule of law, and respect for peace.”
Papuashvili concluded that Georgia “will not bow to pressure or blackmail,” arguing that the real crisis lies within the EU itself, where growing numbers of member states are pushing back against what he called “Brussels’ ideological diktat.”
