Georgia officially presented on Thursday application to join the European Union (EU)said the Prime Minister of this country in the Caucasus Mountains, Irakli Garibashvili, after Ukraine did the same in the midst of the Russian offensive.
“We submitted our candidacy to join the EU,” Irakli Garibashvili said in a statement after signing the letter of admission. “Georgia is a European state and continues to make a valuable contribution to its protection and development”, he added.
Entry into the EU represents astrategic objective” from Georgia, according to Garibashvili.
Tbilisi has been encouraged to take this step after the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelensky, did it last Monday in order to stop the so-called “special military operation” ordered by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week caused great concern in Georgiaformer Soviet republic, which Russia considers as part of its area of influence.
In 2008, the Russian army intervened in the country and Georgia lost two pro-Russian separatist territories.
The crisis between Ukraine and Russia seems to have opened an opportunity for Georgia’s aspiration to join the EU (an objective inscribed in its Constitution).
The Georgian government had stated last year its intention to submit its candidacy to the EU in 2024. Both Georgia and Ukraine have an association agreement with the EU which, however, does not offer guarantees of integration into the Union.
The Caucasian country is experiencing a serious political crisis and the government is accused of persecuting freedoms.
Former President Mikheil Saakashvili (2004-2013), leader of the opposition, has been in jail since October for abuse of power. In February he began his second hunger strike to denounce his case, which he considers a political detention.
(With information from AFP)
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