Georgia’s Accession to the European Union
EU leaders are planning to warn Georgia ahead of the elections that its government is jeopardizing the country’s path to the European Union, Reuters reports, citing the draft text of the final statement for the EU leaders’ summit scheduled for October 17-18 in Brussels.
“Georgia was granted candidate status for EU membership in December 2023, and polls show that the country’s citizens support integration with the EU. However, the ruling ‘Georgian Dream’ party’s friendly rhetoric towards Russia, the controversial ‘foreign agent’ law requiring organizations funded from abroad to register as foreign agents, and legislation restricting LGBT rights have raised concerns in the West,” the publication writes.
According to the draft conclusion text, the EU reaffirms its readiness to support “the Georgian people on their path to Europe,” but also expresses “serious concern” regarding the actions of the Georgian government:
“The European Council notes that this course of action threatens Georgia’s path to the EU and effectively halts the accession process. The Council of Europe expects Georgian authorities to ensure that the upcoming elections are held in a free and fair environment.”
Notably, on October 14, a meeting of EU foreign ministers took place, followed by a press conference with EU High Representative Josep Borrell. Among other topics, he spoke about Georgia, stating that the situation there looks significantly worse compared to Moldova.
“We discussed the situation in Moldova and Georgia. Both countries face important elections in the coming weeks. Moldova is showing significant progress on its path to the European Union, despite increasing pressure from Russia… As for Georgia, the picture is bleaker [compared to Moldova].
The actions of the ruling party, its statements, and electoral promises are distancing the country from the European path and signal a potential shift towards authoritarianism. As a result, the EU accession process is de facto suspended…
We will see how the upcoming parliamentary elections go, which will be an important test for Georgian democracy and its path to joining the European Union,” Borrell stated.
On October 15, the situation in Georgia will be discussed at the General Affairs Council meeting of the European Union.
The meeting will take place in Luxembourg, and as indicated in the agenda on the official EU website, the primary focus will be on the situation in Georgia in the context of the upcoming elections. The German delegation will present the report on this issue.