It’s official: Georgia has been placed on the waiting list for accession to the European Union.
At a crucial summit in Brussels, the 27 EU leaders decided to grant Ukraine and Moldova their long-awaited status as candidate countries to joining the bloc. But in the case of Georgia, the leaders limited themselves to acknowledging its “European perspective”, a kind of prelude to the formal candidacy.
“The future of these countries and their citizens is in the European Union”, could be read in the conclusions. “The European Council is ready to grant candidate country status to Georgia once the priorities specified in the Commission’s opinion on Georgia’s membership application have been addressed.”
Georgia, a small country of almost four million citizens, has long identified itself as European, although its remote geographical position, in the South Caucasus region, bordered by Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, has raised doubts about its continental affiliation .
As a parliamentary republic, the country has made great strides in overcoming its Soviet legacy and holds regular elections to elect its public representatives. But the truth is that the system is unstable, and accusations of fraud, intimidation, vote buying, cronyism or police harassment are frequent.
Oligarchs have been accused of exerting excessive influence on Georgia’s political life and media environment, while civil liberties are “inconsistently protected,” according to Freedom House.
In October 2020, a political crisis broke out in this country after opposition parties claimed that parliamentary elections were rigged, refusing to recognize his defeat in them. That unleashed a significant polarization, in addition to numerous police arrests. The opposition then refused to enter Parliament while the leading Georgian Dream party formed a new government.
As the crisis dragged on, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, intervened personally to broker a deal and get all parties back into the legislative chamber. The agreement also proposed a series of electoral and judicial reforms, although Georgian Dream later withdrew its signature.
This persistent instability was inevitably reflected in the Commission’s opinion on Georgia’s candidacy for the EU, which excluded a recommendation to grant him candidate status. “Georgia has a basis to achieve the stability of the institutions that guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the respect and protection of minorities” said the executive, although recent events have undermined the progress of the country” .
The Commission presented a list of priorities that Georgia needs to address. Among them are political polarization, the proper functioning of all State institutions and the need for a “de-oligarchy”. The list of reforms proposed to Georgia is notably longer than those given to Ukraine and Moldova, which must each implement a series of key measures by the end of this year.
Days after the announcement from Brussels, some 60,000 protesters took to the streets of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, to express their disappointment and demand membership in the European Union.
One step back
But the popular demonstration was not enough to convince the leaders of the Union. Meeting on Thursday in Brussels, the 27 heads of state decided to support the Commission’s approach and leave Georgia without the long-awaited status of candidate country. “Georgia is one step behind“said the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte.
Despite the setback, Georgia’s president, Salome Zourabichviliwas positive in assuring that the recognition of the country’s European perspective was still an “incredibly historic” step.
“We are now prepared to work with determination in the coming months to achieve the status of a candidate country,” said Zourabichvili, who then held a video call with the EU leaders to thank them for their decision.
At the end of the summit, Charles Michel, for his part, wished to express his hope that the country could advance in the reforms necessary for the European Council to end up granting it the status of candidate, although avoided giving a specific deadline. “We closely follow the progress of all Georgian institutions,” said Michel. “I am confident that if there is political will in the political landscape inside Georgia, it will be possible for them to make great strides. They know exactly what it takes to take steps in the right direction.”
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, added that Georgia’s “enormous desire” to join the bloc was the “greatest push” towards its integration: “There has been a lot of political progress,” said Von Der Leyen. “Now what is needed is to comply with some reforms that are important and show political unity, engage the political society and advance these reforms, and then the next steps will be within reach.
The President of France also had good words for Georgia, Emanuel Macron, which confirmed how his fellow leaders had seen “the will of the people who took to the streets and who asked to be Europe.”
The Commission is expected to report to the European Council on the measures taken by the Georgian Government by the end of the year. EU leaders will then use this report to determine whether to grant candidate status, a step that requires the unanimity of the 27 Member States.