When international powers use international organizations as instruments of their own narrow political interests and put geopolitics before people, they harm peace, security and stability - Shalva Papuashvili

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation has always been an important regional pillar of inter-parliamentary cooperation, today its role is more relevant than ever, the Black Sea region is at a critical stage, ongoing geopolitical processes, growing economic uncertainty and new technological transformations are changing both our region and the wider international order, - said the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, in his speech at the 67th plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC).

According to his own assessment, parliamentary assemblies are particularly sensitive to the political preferences of their citizens, voters, and, therefore, are better informed about the priorities determined by the population.

“In a context where global organizations fail to ensure peace, cooperation and stability, regional formats such as PABSEC have a unique opportunity to unite us in defense of our common pragmatic interests, which our parliaments express on behalf of our peoples. We value each other’s peace and security much more than external forces, especially in the context of significant geopolitical upheavals that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago has had a direct impact on the entire Black Sea region, turning it into one of the most important hubs of world politics. Even in this difficult situation, geopolitics must serve the economic interests of our peoples, and not the other way around. Accordingly, PABSEC must maintain a clear focus on the development of economic cooperation, trade, connectivity – in other words, on the well-being of people. The wise founders of BSEC and later PABSEC made “economy” the mission of our organization. As a cornerstone, which is reflected in the name of the organization itself. When international powers use international organizations as instruments for their own narrow political interests and put geopolitics before people, they harm peace, security and stability.

This is precisely what leads to economic stagnation – the neglect of people’s needs in favor of geopolitical games. Such games also deepen the gap between elites and people, which ultimately leads to a loss of public support for adventurist leaders and their governments and contributes to radicalization as the main basis for political polarization,” said Shalva Papuashvili.