At the plenary session of the European Parliament European Commission, President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the European Union should prepare for the accession of more than 30 states by 2030, and if this requires changes in the basic agreements of the organization, it should be done. She named Georgia among the potential EU members along with other countries, but only in “perspective.” Among other potential EU member states, she also mentioned Georgia, but only “in perspective.”
“The place of Ukraine, Moldova, Western Balkan countries and, in the future, Georgia – in the European Union, so the organization must find an answer to the existing geopolitical challenge and a way to support the democratic aspirations of these countries.”
Earlier, on September 7, the same statement was made by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. According to her, the prospect of EU enlargement is real, and Ukraine, Moldova and Western Balkan countries will become new members of the EU. According to Baerbock, the same applies to Georgia, but in a relatively longer term.
Georgia applied for EU membership on March 3, 2022, after which the government received a questionnaire from the European Commission.
The ruling Georgian Dream party handed the completed questionnaire to Brussels in May.
On June 17, 2022, the European Commission prepared an opinion on granting candidate status to Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. Ukraine and Moldova received this status and had to fulfill certain obligations. And Georgia was told to first implement the 12-point recommendation plan, and only then it will have a chance to get the candidate status.
On June 22, 2023, it became known that Georgia had fully implemented three of the twelve recommendations.
As for Moldova and Ukraine, whose progress was also assessed alongside Georgia, Moldova has now fully implemented three of the nine priorities, and Ukraine has fully implemented two of the seven priorities. All this was outlined in the interim oral report, which is an important signal to the countries and indicates which areas they should pay particular attention to before the European Commission presents its enlargement package and recommendations in October.
