OMM Redaksiyası
European Commission Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said she regretted Georgia’s current situation and wished the country were at the same stage as Moldova and Ukraine. She said Georgia’s candidate-country status remained “only on paper.”
At a news conference, Kos stressed that the Georgian people strongly support the country’s integration into the European Union. The country’s next steps, she said, depend largely on how EU member states view Georgia’s future.
The commissioner added that much of what is currently happening in Georgia would be reflected in the European Commission’s enlargement reports, due to be published at the end of October. Kos said it was possible to anticipate the direction those reports would take.
Her remarks came after the European Commission adopted a package of documents reviewing pre-accession policy and setting out directions for the EU’s future enlargement. Under the package, initial roadmaps for Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine will be presented as part of the 2026 enlargement package. Georgia was not included among those countries.
Georgian officials criticize Brussels’ position
Irakli Kirtskhalia, leader of the parliamentary majority, said Georgia’s response to claims that it was lagging behind Ukraine and Moldova was “simple”: “Georgia chooses dignity and peace.”
Kirtskhalia said that if progress in Brussels was measured by how quickly a country met political demands, the process was no longer based on dignity. He said Georgia wanted to join the EU, but not “at any cost and at the expense of Georgia’s interests.” Kirtskhalia also said that, following the European Commission commissioner’s “roadmap,” people accused of organizing unrest and planning to overthrow the government by force were serving prison sentences.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said Kos could repeat the phrase as often as she wished, but “it is better to be a candidate country on paper than a state on paper.” Papuashvili claimed that if Georgia had followed Brussels’ recommendations and escalated tensions with Russia, it would have been drawn into a military conflict and would now be facing the devastation of war, like Ukraine.
Papuashvili compared Georgia’s economic indicators with Moldova’s. According to figures he cited, economic growth in Moldova was about 14% in 2021, while Georgia’s was close to 10%. In the following period, growth in Moldova ranged from zero to 2%, while Georgia averaged about 9%.
Papuashvili also claimed that more than 31% of Moldova’s population lived below the poverty line, compared with 7% in Georgia. The figures cited in this article have not been independently verified.
“Those who follow what Brussels says suffer, while those who disregard Brussels and listen to their own people make economic progress,” Papuashvili said.
He also claimed that Brussels was “gradually backing away” from its promises on EU enlargement. Papuashvili cited discussions about a two-tier EU model that could admit members without equal voting rights, as well as possible agricultural restrictions if Ukraine joined the bloc.
The speaker said countries should not place goals such as NATO or EU membership above national objectives. Such goals, he said, could change at any time, while national interests meant “peaceful development, restoration of territorial integrity and increased prosperity.”
