Georgian speaker to EU: Sovereignty not traded for strawberries

Speaker of the Georgian parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, has said that upcoming discussions between Tbilisi and the European Commission over visa-free travel are being shaped by what he described as politically motivated conditions. 

Papuashvili argued that Georgia is being presented with demands that go beyond technical criteria for maintaining visa liberalisation and instead touch on domestic political decisions, Caliber.Az reports per Georgian media. 

He said such conditions “directly violate” Georgia’s sovereignty and its right to set its own policy agenda.

He also criticised calls for Georgia to align more closely with EU sanctions on Russia and to scale back requirements on transparency of foreign funding, describing these as unacceptable for a candidate country.

In a sharply worded remark, Papuashvili said: “Sovereignty is not traded for strawberries,” a reference to the significance of visa-free travel for Georgians who undertake seasonal agricultural work in Europe.

He further claimed that if Brussels is placing such conditions on a candidate country, it risks breaching commitments made under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and showing “disrespect” towards Georgia’s candidate status.

The “strawberries” reference alludes to the thousands of Georgian citizens who travel annually to EU countries for seasonal work, particularly in agriculture, where visa-free access has practical economic importance.