Georgia speaker slams EU plan to curb veto rights for new members

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili criticised proposals under discussion in Brussels that would restrict voting and veto rights for future European Union member states, saying the idea would create a “first-class” and “second-class” union.

Papuashvili said the EU’s long-standing principle of equality among member states was being undermined by what he described as plans for “legal segregation” of countries, Caliber.Az reports, citing Georgian media.

“The EU would be able to take decisions on issues of essential importance to Georgia’s national interests without Georgia’s participation,” he wrote on social media.

He added that such an approach would contradict the bloc’s founding principles and replace its slogan of “unity in diversity” with a system in which new members would have only a “decorative” role in decision-making.

His comments came after EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos confirmed ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg that the bloc is considering limiting veto rights for new members as part of broader institutional reforms linked to enlargement.

The proposals are part of ongoing discussions within the EU on how to streamline decision-making in a larger bloc, particularly as several candidate countries, including Ukraine and Georgia, pursue membership.

Papuashvili warned that if implemented, the changes would alter the nature of the EU in a way that would make it different from the union Georgia applied to join four years ago.

By Aghakazim Guliyev