Georgian speaker says Brussels sees his country as dish on menu

Brussels and its supporters perceive Georgia as yet another dish on the menu, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has said.

According to Papuashvili, Brussels treats candidate countries as “second-class” participants whose decisions should be made by others, Caliber.Az reports, citing Georgian media.

“In other words, they consider themselves our masters and think that we are not mature enough to determine whom we should engage with. There has also been an idea that even if new members are admitted, they will be second-class members, have fewer rights, will not have the right of veto and so on, meaning that they will end up on the menu,” Papuashvili noted.

Papuashvili had previously criticised a statement by European Commissioner Marta Kos concerning candidate countries’ ties with the MAGA movement.

Georgia is a candidate country for membership of the European Union. Tbilisi was granted candidate status in December 2023, after previously signing an Association Agreement with Brussels. A visa-free regime has been in place for Georgian citizens since 2017.

Nine additional conditions have been set for Georgia to continue its integration process. They include overcoming polarisation, de-oligarchisation, ensuring free and competitive elections, among others.

In response to the adoption of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence and the Law on the Protection of Family Values and Minors, which bans LGBT propaganda, Brussels reviewed its relations with Tbilisi in 2024, refusing to hold high-level meetings with representatives of the Georgian Dream party and suspending financial assistance. In effect, the country’s European integration process was halted.

In response, on November 28, 2024, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a decision to remove the opening of EU accession talks from the agenda until 2028.

The European Union criticised the decision and accused Georgian Dream of democratic backsliding, calling on it to “immediately return to the EU path”. On January 27, 2025, Brussels suspended visa-free travel for holders of Georgian diplomatic and service passports as a measure against government officials.

In July 2025, the European Commission sent a letter to Georgia’s Foreign Ministry demanding the repeal of the laws on “foreign agents” and LGBT propaganda, threatening to suspend visa-free travel for ordinary citizens as well. The authorities have described the conditions as “unrealistic”, while expressing confidence that the visa-free regime would not be suspended.

On March 6, 2026, the European Commission suspended visa-free travel for holders of Georgian diplomatic, service and official passports, threatening to extend the restrictions to all Georgian citizens.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov