Georgia ‘confident’ of EU candidate status this year

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili said on Wednesday she was “confident” that Brussels would grant her country EU candidate status before the end of this year.

Addressing the European Parliament in Brussels, the leader argued in a lengthy speech that Georgia was stepping up to meet European democratic standards and that membership of the bloc would provide “protection from Russia”.

“At this decisive time of our journey towards Europe, I want to see Georgia get past domestic and international challenges and firmly embark on the path to full-fledged European integration,” she said.

“And for that there is only one road: To secure Georgia be granted by year end the status of candidate to the European Union.”

Georgia applied for candidate status to join the European Union in March last year, along with Moldova — a month after Ukraine did.

In June 2022, EU member states granted that status to Ukraine and Moldova, but held off on Georgia, saying that country had more work to do.

The European Commission at the time said that while Georgia’s overall bid was “solid” it still needed further reforms of its market economy, education system and its energy and transport infrastructure.

The commission is to present a progress update for Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova later this year that will set out their next steps in what are likely lengthy paths to EU membership.

Zourabichvili said her speech in Brussels was “more than a plea for the status of candidate”.

It was, she said, a description of “the toll the Georgian people paid in the face of Russian aggression and the importance of what the European Union and Georgia’s people and governments have delivered in the past two decades”.

Becoming a candidate to join the European bloc “is asking for recognition, protection and support”, she said.

Russia’s war in Ukraine weighs heavily on former Soviet countries.

Georgia was annexed by the Soviet Union a century ago and won independence in 1991, after the end of the Cold War. Russia fought a brief but bloody war with Georgia in 2008, and anti-Russian sentiment runs deep in the pro-Western country.

Yet, Georgian authorities have faced mounting accusations of covertly cooperating with the Kremlin after years of tensions.

The government, which insists it needs to maintain economic ties with Russia, this month resumed direct flights from Russia to Georgia, sparking opposition protests at Tbilisi airport.

Zourabichvili’s speech in the de facto capital of the European Union came a day before dozens of leaders from across Europe were to gather in Moldova for a summit of the European Political Community (EPC).

The EPC, a brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron, is a forum for European countries — including all 27 EU nations — to get together to discuss common issues of concern. Pointedly, it excludes Russia.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Moldova’s President Maia Sandu on Wednesday on making “big progress” in the reforms required to back her country’s bid for European Union membership.