“Pointing fingers at us and questioning us must come to an end. The Georgian people are no longer naïve to tolerate finger-pointing! The ball is entirely on NATO’s side. Georgia has done everything necessary to become a NATO member,” said Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili while commenting on Mark Rutte’s statement.

According to Papuashvili, the Georgian people clearly see what the situation is, since “from 2008 until today, year after year, we have been standing in an open doorway, in a crosswind, instead of a decision being made.”

“If the talk is about naivety - the Georgian people are no longer naïve regarding such statements. I believe the Georgian people clearly see what we are dealing with. In 2008, when they said the door is open, 17 years have passed since then. Georgia has done everything - both institutionally and in terms of military integration, even by directly entering wars and fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with NATO soldiers. Mr Rutte, the country he represents and served as prime minister had ten times fewer troops in Afghanistan than Georgia did. So, pointing fingers at us and questioning us must stop. The Georgian people are no longer naïve to tolerate finger-pointing! The ball is fully on NATO’s side. Georgia has done everything to become a NATO member - it is not only a declared aspiration; it is written into the Constitution.

We see that it suits some people to keep Georgia - whether Georgia, Ukraine or another country - in limbo: neither here nor there, stuck in the middle, which increases security risks rather than reducing them. We see this from the example of Ukraine - the debates surrounding NATO. When the war began, Zelenskyy came out and said: tell us clearly, are you admitting us to NATO or not?

In terms of compatibility and institutional readiness, we surpass 7–8 NATO member states by all parameters. The Georgian people are not naïve anymore. NATO must decide what it wants - the problem is that they cannot decide. We also saw, semi-officially, the so-called EU counter-proposal containing 24 points, which again mentioned the need for NATO consensus, but nowhere contained a decision on Ukraine's NATO membership - even though they were promising it in words, just like they’ve been promising Georgia since 2008. Year after year, we stand in an open doorway, in a crosswind, instead of a decision being made, and again Georgia is left in uncertainty. Regarding Ukraine, we also hear statements that Ukraine cannot become a NATO member. They've been fighting for three years - for their right to become a NATO member. The Georgian or Ukrainian people will no longer be naïve. NATO must decide what it wants. Leaving nations in such uncertainty is unacceptable. The Georgian people are no longer naïve to believe pretty words like ‘We invite you to the open door’, ‘We are waiting for you’... No more ‘open door’ or ‘invitation’ - what is needed is decisions,” Papuashvili stated.

For reference, Mark Rutte recently stated that he is “not naive regarding what is happening in Georgia.”

In response to the question whether Georgia is still an aspirant country, Rutte said: “In the Euro-Atlantic space, any country that wants to become a NATO member can express its desire, and then the process begins.”

“Of course, I am not naïve about what is happening in Georgia. We are very worried. We have clearly communicated this to the Georgians,” Mark Rutte said.