The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, reaffirmed Georgia’s European perspective on Friday 8 September in Tbilisi, saying that there was still time for the Georgian authorities to implement the remaining nine of the twelve recommendations made by the European Council in June 2022 (see EUROPE 12978/1).
Mr Borrell called on Georgia’s political class to ease internal tensions by seeing the road to EU membership as a “national endeavour” capable of overcoming “counter-productive polarisation”. In particular, he cited the example of the impeachment procedure recently initiated against President Salome Zurabishvili by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Remaining optimistic, Mr Borrell said that the Georgian authorities were still in a position to carry out judicial, electoral and media freedom reforms, and to reduce the weight of the oligarchs on the country’s economy. He praised the close cooperation of Georgians in the fight against the circumvention of European sanctions imposed on Russia after its military aggression against Ukraine.
He nevertheless noted that there had been little progress in aligning Georgian foreign policy with that of the Union, a prerequisite for any country wishing to join the EU. He also regretted the resumption of commercial flights between Georgia and Russia.
The High Representative stressed that the assessment of Georgia’s compliance with the recommendations, which the European Commission will carry out this autumn, remains a “merit-based” process. It is on the basis of this assessment that the European Council will take a decision in December on whether Tbilisi should be granted the status of an official candidate country for EU membership.
Present alongside Mr Borrell, the Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, assured that his government was on the same wavelength as the EU regarding the Russian military invasion, pointing out that Moscow still supports the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In his view, “the only correct political decision would be to grant Georgia candidate status by the end of the year”. Otherwise, the EU would be sending “the wrong message to Russia”, he said. As for the proceedings against the Georgian President, he stressed that the highest representative of the State was also bound to respect the Georgian Constitution. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)