Georgia is increasingly distant from the European Union. “The course of action taken by the Tbilisi government jeopardizes the country’s path towards the EU, effectively halting the accession process.” This is the opinion of the European Commission contained in its annual report on enlargement, which takes stock of the progress of negotiations in the candidate countries.
A troubled path
Georgia obtained the status of a candidate country to join the European Union in December 2023, but its accession process has never been too smooth. Even before the elections tainted by alleged irregularities a few days ago, in the spring of 2024 the Georgian path towards Brussels had already been effectively interrupted after the approval of a controversial law on “foreign agents” which, according to its opponents, aims to targeting non-governmental organizations and Western-backed media and is inspired by similar measures by Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
As the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, explained yesterday, Georgia should withdraw that law because it has an effect on civil society and the organization of the media, as well as the law on so-called family values, accused of discriminating the LGBT+ community, “since discrimination is not a value in our European family”.
And last Saturday’s disputed elections, which marked the victory of the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party already in government amid accusations of fraud by the opposition, have made the situation worse. “Georgia conducted parliamentary elections that were characterized by serious irregularities. And these must be investigated and addressed in a transparent and independent manner,” Borrell called. In the report, regarding elections, the Commission supports “the need for electoral reform in the country”.
U-turn
Frozen accession process does not mean that Georgia has lost all hopes of joining the Union, but a U-turn is needed. “Unless Tbilisi reverses this orientation and demonstrates tangible efforts to address outstanding issues and key reforms, the Commission will not be able to consider recommending the opening of negotiations. The EU remains however committed to further deepening the partnership with Georgia,” reads the report
In addition to Georgia, eight other nations are in line to join the EU: Bosnia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Serbia, Moldova and Turkey, which have started negotiations, then Albania and North Macedonia which have been granted candidate status. Then there is Kosovo at the door which is a potential candidate.