“The European Union has long limited itself to measured actions and expressions of concern—if they decide to take any drastic steps, even regarding Georgia, they will certainly consult with the United States first,” foreign policy expert Tornike Sharashenidze said on Palitra News.
According to him, previous European Parliament resolutions have not led to significant changes, so expectations for the current one should remain low.
On 13 February, the European Parliament passed another critical resolution on Georgia, rejecting the legitimacy of the “Georgian Dream” government, calling for sanctions against its allied elite, and demanding the release of those arrested during protests.
The new draft resolution expands the list of Georgian citizens the MEPs urge to sanction. It also states that “resolving the ongoing political and constitutional crisis in Georgia can only be achieved through new parliamentary elections.”
Tornike Sharashenidze on new European Parliament resolution
“You know what it really means to declare a government illegitimate? It means cutting diplomatic ties entirely. For example, if Germany closed its embassy in Georgia and left—that would be a demonstration of illegitimacy and non-recognition. But that is not happening. The embassy remains open, the ambassador criticizes the government—and that’s where it ends.
The European Union has long limited itself to measured actions and expressions of concern. The EU is a paradise on Earth, but this paradise has one flaw: they abandoned not only power politics but also any form of tough policy long ago.
So if they decide to take radical action, even against Georgia, they will first consult with the United States. They haven’t taken any drastic steps without America for a long time—and they can’t, because the U.S. has been protecting them since World War II. That is the price the EU pays. But it’s a good price: ‘You protect me, and I live well’—that’s the essence of it. That’s why we want to join the EU.
Since America has no strong interest in Georgia, everything in the EU is also on pause. Sanctions and other measures against Georgia are stalled. Even under Biden, whose administration was much more hostile to “Georgian Dream” (while Trump’s stance remains unclear), the EU failed to reach an agreement on sanctions. We need to take this into account.
As for the new resolution—how many similar ones have we already seen? Why should our expectations be any different after the fifth or sixth resolution, when the second or third one led to nothing?
Even if Salome Zurabishvili is named the legitimate president of Georgia in the resolution, what actual powers does the president have? Suppose that’s the case—so what? What leverage does she have? That is the key question.”
