Day: September 5, 2025

46% of the European Union’s population would support Georgia’s accession to the EU once it meets all membership conditions, while 43% would be against, according to the Eurobarometer survey fielded in February and March and released in September.

According to the survey, 10% of respondents strongly and 36% fairly favored Georgia’s membership, whereas 27% fairly and 16% strongly opposed the country joining the bloc. 11% of those surveyed said they did not know.

“A national analysis illustrates that in 17 Member States at least 50% of respondents are in favour of Georgia joining the EU,” notes the report by Eurobarometer, a pollster operating under the European Commission and offering regular cross-country public opinion surveys.

Support for Georgia’s membership is highest in Sweden, where 71% back the move. Opposition runs strongest in Austria, with 64% of respondents resisting Georgia’s membership.

According to the poll, Georgia is behind many other EU candidate/potential candidate countries in overall preference. Ukraine tops the list with 52% support across the EU, followed by Montenegro at 51% support. Serbia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia each receive 47-48% support, while Albania secures 45%, and Kosovo – 43%.

The survey highlights that “Georgia, Kosovo, and Türkiye are not selected as the most favoured potential new EU members by respondents in any of the 27 Member States.”

Different EU Poll Finds 74% of Georgians Would Vote for EU Membership

Another survey conducted in May 2025 by the EU Regional Communication Programme for the Eastern Neighbourhood (EU NEIGHBOURS east) and released in August found that nearly three-quarters of Georgians – 74% – would vote for European Union membership if a referendum were held this week. Only 5% said they would vote against it. The survey also showed that 80% of respondents believe EU membership would bring more advantages than disadvantages to the country.

As for the attitudes towards the EU in Georgia, 48% said they felt “neutral” towards the EU, while 27% reported a “fairly positive” attitude and 16% “very positive”. 4% of those surveyed had registered “fairly negative” attitude, and 3% – “very negative.”

As for when Georgia might join the EU, 29% of respondents believed it would happen within the next five years. Another 26% thought membership would come within five to 15 years, while 24% said they did not know. Ten percent suggested it would take more than 15 years but believed it would eventually happen, while 11% said they do not think Georgia will ever join the bloc.

A separate survey by the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC), published on September 3, shows overwhelming domestic support for EU membership, with 78% of Georgians backing accession – 58% completely in favor and another 20% more supportive than opposed.

Georgia applied for EU membership together with Moldova and Ukraine in 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The country was granted EU membership candidate status in December 2023, following a delay with Georgia’s democratic problems. Unlike co-applicants, Georgia failed to move to the next stage, which would be the opening of accession talks with the bloc.

On November 28, Georgian Dream announced it would halt the EU accession process until 2028, sparking months of protests that authorities met with force and repression. With human rights and democratic concerns still unresolved, the country now also risks losing the visa-free travel Georgians have enjoyed with the bloc since 2017.

Also Read:

• 15/07/2025 – Brussels Warns Consequences as EU Foreign Ministers Discuss Suspending Visa-Free for Georgia
• 11/07/2025 – EU’s Kallas, 17 European FMs ‘Disturbed, Deeply Concerned’ Over Georgia’s ‘Deteriorating Situation’
• 04/06/2025 – Surprising Eurobarometer Survey was Fielded by GORBI in Georgia
• 29/04/2025 – EU Weighs Suspending Georgia’s Visa-Free Travel, Reviewing DCFTA and Candidate Status
• 01/12/2024 – EU Leadership “Regrets” GD’s EU Turn
  

Leaving prison hours after Georgian Dream-elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili pardoned them, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, two leaders of the opposition Lelo/Strong Georgia alliance, attributed their release to “manipulation” aimed at dividing the opposition.

Kavelashvili’s move followed his earlier pledge to pardon the jailed opposition leaders if they would promise to take part in the vote, and came against the refusal of Japaridze and Khazaradze to accept the offer, despite their determination to run in the partially boycotted elections. The two were among eight opposition figures imprisoned over refusing to appear before the Georgian Dream parliament’s investigative body, the so-called Tsulukiani Commission. The other six, including four opposition party leaders, remain behind bars as their parties boycott the vote.

“What the so-called president did today is a legal nonsense, a manipulation with people’s freedom, a trampling of the law, a trade with human beings,” Mamuka Khazaradze told reporters on September 5 as he emerged from prison with a grey beard.

Calling the move “sneaky, very dirty step, when our fellow fighters are serving punishment for exactly the same article, the same so-called crime,” Khazaradze still reaffirmed his resolve to take part in the vote, against calls by some opposition figures to reverse the decision. “It is precisely the president’s decision today that shows he wants to bring chaos and confrontation to the opposition spectrum,” the Lelo leader noted.

Badri Japaridze, who also left the jail, similarly noted that their position was “the same as it was until the day we were placed in prison,” attributing the imprisonment to the party’s decision to run in the elections.

Those from the parties that chose to boycott the vote, however, attributed the decision to the Georgian Dream’s attempts to pressure the opposition into taking part in the vote. While describing the freedom of two leaders whom they see as political prisoners as a positive event in general, they called on the Lelo leaders to reconsider their decision.

“Step out of this wrongful Russian special operation and return to the common struggle of principle: of non-cooperation, non-acceptance, non-submission, of resistance,” Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa party that boycotts the elections, addressed pardoned Lelo leaders on the day of their release. Droa has been a part of the Coalition for Change opposition alliance, three leaders of which – Zurab Japaridze, Nika Gvaramia, and Nika Melia – remain in jail after being convicted on identical charges.

The Federalist Party, which has campaigned in favor of the boycott, similarly called on Lelo to “not make a mistake worse than a crime, refuse to take part in the Russian special operation of October 4, and return to the consistent path of unity.”

The ruling party officials, on the other hand, described Kavelashvili’s decision as a “humane act” while echoing their earlier accusations towards the newly released leaders.

Kavelashvili’s decision “generally shows the government’s attitude,” Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told reporters on September 5, while invoking the two opposition leaders’ banking background to make sarcastic remarks. “You know that in the past, Khazaradze and Japaridze were evicting people from their apartments, while now the government has evicted these people from prison. This is the contrast between attitudes.”

Lelo/Strong Georgia alliance is among 14 parties cleared by the Central Election Commission to run in the local elections, a sharp drop from 43 that had signed up in the previous, 2021 municipal vote. The alliance is cooperating in the campaign with For Georgia, the party led by exiled former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, fielding joint candidates in the race.

Nine parties, including those from major opposition alliances that took part in last October’s parliamentary elections and two former coalition partners of Lelo/Strong Georgia, are boycotting the elections, with the vote taking place amid ongoing repression, legislative crackdowns on opposition, jailings of political leaders, a crackdown on watchdogs, and a lack of local and international observation.

Also Read:

• 05/09/2025 – Authorities Freeze Lelo/Strong Georgia Account, Study Khazaradze’s Assets
• 23/06/2025 – Mamuka Khazaradze Sentenced to Eight Months in Jail in Second Verdict for Defying GD Commission
• 23/06/2025 – Badri Japaridze Sentenced to Eight Months in Jail in Third Verdict for Defying GD Commission

India Rebuts Azerbaijan’s Allegations Of Blocking SCO Berth, Says Bid ‘Under Consideration’  News18

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Georgian president pardons opposition leaders

Mikheil Kavelashvili, the president from Georgian Dream, announced that he had decided to pardon the leaders of the “Lelo – Strong Georgia” coalition, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze.

On 23 June 2025, Georgian Dream had the two sentenced to eight months in prison and banned from holding leadership positions for two years for failing to appear before a parliamentary commission investigating the actions of the Saakashvili government. The verdict was delivered by judge Zviad Sharadze.

Kavelashvili said the pardon was granted so that “no one can claim” that the local elections scheduled for October are taking place under conditions of limited competition.

Georgia hands down sentences to protesters. Russian citizen jailed for 8 years and 6 months

Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili sentenced eight people detained during the pro-European protests to prison terms. Three were given two years and six months, while five received two years

11 pro-European protesters in Georgia sentenced to two years in prison

Earlier, on 2 September, Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili sentenced eight people arrested during the pro-European protests to prison terms

Georgian president pardons opposition leaders

The first interactive theater in Azerbaijan, dOM, has become a first-degree laureate of the International Performing Arts Competition “Soul of Eurasia” in the “Theater Art” category, specializing in “Dramatic Theater” in the “Professional Theater” section, Azernews reports.

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