The government of the Georgian Dream decided to freeze negotiations on joining the EU because it did not want to obey Brussels' demands. This was stated by Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, UNN reports.
"We stopped negotiations with the EU because we did not want to submit to Brussels' demands. Because they are non-negotiable. If specific factual issues arise, we are always ready to resume discussions," Kavelashvili said.
He did not specify which demands of Brussels the Georgian Dream considers unacceptable, but repeated several times the key message of the ruling party about the desire of "foreign governments" to involve Georgia in the war in Ukraine.
"Without our smart steps, things would have been much worse; we prevented a war," he says.
Kavelashvili claims that they were "pressured" on this particular issue, and that the subject was allegedly the EU candidate status that Georgia received in December 2023. At the same time, he accuses individual members of the European Parliament and European foreign ministers of "interference" and "violation of all democratic values.
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Kavelashvili calls the protests that erupted in Georgia in response to the freezing of the talks an "artificial crisis" aimed at "initiating revolutionary processes.
"This political situation is not new. It's been going on since I entered politics," the politician adds, describing the current political crisis.
He denies the accusations of a pro-Russian course of the country's authorities.
"Polls show that 80% are in favor of European integration. If the Georgian Dream was a "Russian government" and opposed the European path, how do you think it would fit together? Most Georgian citizens fully understand the actions of the government. It's not the majority that takes to the streets," Kavelashvili said.