On the first day of the EU summit in Brussels, on March 21, participants made a statement. They asked Georgia to implement important reforms. These reforms are necessary for the country’s integration into the European Union. They also promised to continue supporting Georgia amid Russian actions undermining its territorial integrity.
However, this statement prompted a sharp comment from the Georgian parliament speaker. Shalva Papuashvili stated, “The European Union is unjustly oppressing Georgia. In reality, nothing is preventing the start of negotiations for the country’s entry into the EU.”
Negotiations for EU entry have started for Ukraine, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. But not for Georgia
“The European Council notes Georgia’s ongoing efforts and calls on the country to continue with the unresolved priority reforms,” states section 32 of the joint statement.
Section 14 says, “The European Union will continue to support Georgia in strengthening its stability. It will help in solving problems resulting from Russia’s actions to undermine Georgia’s territorial integrity and due to Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine.”
In the same statement, it’s confirmed that the European Union supports the official start of negotiations for Moldova, Ukraine, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to join.
“In terms of reforms, Georgia is already ahead of both Ukraine and Moldova. The EU is showing disregard towards Georgia”
“The European Commission will assess Georgia’s progress towards European integration this autumn. We were given nine recommendations to fulfill for this. But even without these nine steps, Georgia is already ahead of Bosnia, Ukraine, and Moldova,” said the parliament speaker to journalists.
“Nothing is stopping the European Union from starting negotiations with Georgia right now. In fact, they should have started these negotiations back in December 2023, when they began with Moldova and Ukraine.
Georgia was oppressed in December and continues to be oppressed now. The Georgian people see this. Everyone knows Georgia’s achievements in terms of institutional development, European Union integration, anti-corruption efforts, and judicial matters. How do these compare to Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia, and Herzegovina?
Unfortunately, Georgia continues to see unfair treatment towards it,” said Shalva Papuashvili.
On December 5, 2023, the European Council decided to start entry negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. They also granted Georgia the status of a candidate.
Before this, the European Council’s General Secretariat released a statement about intending to expand the EU. The Council asked Georgia to show strong commitment to EU values. They wanted Georgia to keep making progress in their reform program and meet the conditions set by the Commission.
Specifically, the Council stressed that Georgia must fully respect human rights. This includes freedom of the media and diversity, freedom of opinion, assembly, and expression. Georgia must also protect the LGBT community from intimidation, violence, and discrimination.
On December 26, the Georgian government published an action plan. This plan outlines steps to follow the “nine steps” set by the European Commission. It lists the activities to be carried out, deadlines, and the responsible departments.
The plan was approved by the government’s commission on European integration on November 27, 2023. All its points need to be completed by the end of 2024.
