Papuashvili Says Georgia Will Not Follow Ukraine, Moldova Path to EU
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, April 30, 2026
Georgian Dream Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said the country will not pursue European Union membership at the cost of its sovereignty or territorial integrity, rejecting comparisons with Ukraine and Moldova.
Speaking to journalists, Papuashvili said "the Ukrainian and Moldovan path of European integration is not the Georgian path," adding that Georgia "will never take the path. which implies EU membership by giving up territories and abolishing the state."
He argued that EU accession should not come at the expense of core state interests. "If EU membership is an end in itself, it means that you have to sacrifice your territorial sovereignty, the sovereignty of the state," he said. "In this sense, EU membership is not our end in itself."
Papuashvili referred to remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, saying they suggested that Ukraine may need to cede territory in the context of EU accession, and to comments by Moldovan President Maia Sandu, which he interpreted as support for Moldova's integration with Romania.
"When they use Ukraine and Moldova as examples. Georgia will never take that path," he said, adding that the country would not give up "territories, sovereignty, identity, the right to determine our own policy."
He also criticized what he described as pressure from Brussels, saying such conditions were being "imposed on Ukraine and Moldova" and acknowledged by their own leaders.
