Georgia would have escalated tensions with Russia and potentially become a “state on paper” if it had followed advice from Brussels, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said.

His remarks came after European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said Georgia remains an EU candidate “only on paper” and expressed a desire to see Georgia progress toward European integration at the same level as Moldova and Ukraine, according to TASS.

“I think it is better to be a candidate country only on paper than a state only on paper. This is the choice that has to be made. If we had listened to Brussels, Georgia today would be a state only on paper for many reasons. First of all, if we had listened to Brussels and escalated with Russia, Georgia would also have suffered economically, as Moldova has. If we had listened to Brussels and escalated with Russia, Georgia would have been more likely to enter a new military confrontation with Russia, and today we would be a war-torn country like Ukraine,” Papuashvili told reporters.

He added that Georgia’s only “sin” is that it does not follow what he described as harmful advice from Brussels, arguing that the Georgian people benefit from this approach.