It takes good cynicism to declare in the morning that no one was demanding a second front from Georgia, and then publicly express disappointment in the afternoon because Georgia did not escalate with Russia, – this is how Parliament Chairman Shalva Papuashvili responds to the statement by EU Ambassador Pawel Herczyński: "We, the EU, decided to reduce dependence on trade with Russia at the cost of paying a high price to our economies, while trade between Georgia and Russia has been rapidly growing in recent years."

According to Shalva Papuashvili, if the Georgian government had yielded to demands for escalation with Russia four years ago, today we would be a nation in the ruins of war, economically destroyed, and in mourning – a country about which many high-flown statements would now be made from various parts of the world.

"Good cynicism is required: to declare in the morning that no one was demanding a second front from Georgia, and then publicly express disappointment in the afternoon because Georgia did not escalate with Russia.

From the EU Ambassador's statement: 'We decided to suspend all direct flights with Russia, restrict entry of Russian citizens into the EU, and reduce trade with Russia at the heavy cost to our own economies. Against this background, Georgia is widely opening its doors to Russian tourists and business, and trade between the two countries is growing.'

Once again, for those who cannot see the stone in the wall: the only way to restrict all this from Georgia's side is to impose bilateral sanctions on Russia.

Are there still questions whether they demanded sanctions against Russia and escalation from us? Are there still questions that this would have come at a heavy price for our economy and every citizen? Is there still any doubt left that in our situation any escalation is potential war – a war in which we would have had to fight alone?

Finally, are there still questions about the real basis for the constant criticism toward Georgia from Brussels?

If the Georgian government had yielded to these demands four years ago, today we would be a nation in the ruins of war, economically destroyed, and in mourning – a country about which many high-flown statements would now be made from various parts of the world.

For Georgia, national security is not an abstract concept. It is a daily, tangible reality – a country divided by the occupation line, where foreign state military forces are stationed just dozens of kilometers from the capital.

In these conditions, the obligation of the Georgian government is not to fulfill someone else's political agenda, but to preserve its own state, maintain stability, and protect its population.

The criticism coming from Brussels precisely points to the ignoring of this reality.

The Georgian state cannot build its own future relying on someone else's geopolitical calculations. We will not allow this on the new February 25," – writes Shalva Papuashvili.