EU suspends Georgia’s integration process long before Tbilisi’s move PHOTO

The European Union suspended Georgia’s EU integration process long before the Georgian authorities announced their own decision.

The letter from EU Ambassador Paweł Herczyński — obtained exclusively by Rustavi 2 and addressed to Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs — fundamentally upends the EU’s long-running narrative that Tbilisi itself declined to open accession negotiations, Caliber.Az reports.

“Due to the exceptional circumstances in Georgia and in line with the European Council conclusions of 27 June 2024 that resulted in a de facto halt of Georgia’s EU accession process, I inform you that Georgia’s participation in the following EU-funded regional projects on security and organised crime has been suspended,” the letter read.

Media reports recall that on November 28, 2024, the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a decision to remove from the agenda, until 2028, the opening of accession negotiations with the EU.

The announcement came days after the European Parliament declared Georgia’s 26 October 2024 elections neither free nor fair.

Kobakhidze reiterated Georgia’s European identity but stressed that relations with Brussels “can only be bilateral,” insisting that EU integration cannot be treated as a favour granted by the Union.

In response, Western partners have consistently accused the Georgian authorities of democratic backsliding and urged them to immediately return to the European path.

By Jeyhun Aghazada