Georgia caught up in new EU integration row: Anita Hipper responds to Georgian government
Herczynski’s letter on Georgia and the EU
The European Commission’s spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, Anita Hipper, commented on a letter from EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski circulated by pro-government Georgian media, saying it was yet another attempt to distract from the facts.
According to pro-government media, EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski sent a letter on 5 November to Georgia’s deputy foreign minister, stating that “Georgia’s participation in EU-funded regional programmes on security and organised crime has been suspended.”
According to pro-government channels, the same letter from Herczynski states: “Given the special circumstances in Georgia and in line with the conclusions of the European Council on 27 June 2024, which effectively led to the suspension of Georgia’s EU accession process, I inform you that Georgia’s participation in the following EU-funded regional projects on security and organised crime has been suspended.”
As Rustavi-2 reports, the letter “turns the whole hysterical campaign against Georgia on its head, in which the European Union claimed that Georgia itself had refused to start EU accession talks… The key point in the letter is the EU ambassador’s acknowledgment, clearly stating with a specific date that the decision to suspend Georgia’s EU accession process was made on 27 June 2024, in line with the conclusions of the European Council.”
Anita Hipper: “We see yet another attempt to divert attention from the facts. We are used to information propaganda from the [Georgian] government, so let us clarify the facts: as early as June 2024, we received the European Commission’s assessment, which once again confirmed Georgia’s backsliding from the democratic path and served as the first warning signal to the Georgian government to change course.
We see the same Georgian Dream government, with a parliamentary majority from the same party, and instead of reversing these destructive actions in favour of democracy, we see them intensified through the persecution of opposition leaders, arrests of journalists, and attacks on peaceful protesters.
We received the European Commission’s assessment in June 2024, in October, in December, and again this week with the enlargement report, and once more it shows that Georgia remains a candidate country only in name.”
Herczynski’s letter on Georgia and the EU
