Georgia in Brussels' crosshairs EU enlargement hits a dead end

Recently, we have increasingly witnessed the European Union taking a tougher stance toward countries that pursue an independent foreign policy and prioritise national interests, rather than following EU directives or yielding to European officials. Notably, the EU institutions adopt this approach both toward member states and toward countries with candidate status for joining the Union.

In the first case, this is particularly evident in the example of Hungary, against which the European Parliament recently passed a resolution calling on the Council of Europe to restrict the country’s voting rights. The resolution justifies this by claiming Hungary has misused its veto power in important areas such as security, raising concerns that “Budapest’s policies pose a systemic threat to EU values.”

In the second case, Georgia has come under similar European scrutiny. Specifically, the German ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, recently stated in an interview with Radio Free Europe that Tbilisi’s EU accession process will be frozen in December of this year. According to him, this is the result of actions taken by the Georgian side, which has deviated from the European path.

“Germany is not working on the enlargement anymore, not anyone in the EU really is and most likely the December European Council, when our heads of state and government meet, they will confirm that the [enlargement] file will be closed because of actions on the Georgian side,” the diplomat said.

It would be an exaggeration to claim that this news came as a surprise to the Georgian authorities, as relations between Georgia and the EU have, for quite some time, been characterised by a single word: confrontation.

To understand the essence of the problem, it is worth taking a brief look at recent history. As is known, official Tbilisi submitted its application to join the European Union in March 2022, following Ukraine and Moldova, which were granted candidate status in June of the same year. However, Georgia only became a candidate in December 2023, which in itself was a worrying signal for the country.

The broader deterioration in EU–Georgia relations began against the backdrop of the adoption of the “foreign agents” law. At that time, the European Union suspended the country’s accession process and froze part of its financial assistance. Later, the European Parliament refused to recognise the results of the 2024 parliamentary elections, in which the Georgian Dream party won, adopting a resolution that claimed the elections “represented yet another manifestation of the country’s continued backsliding from democracy.”

Subsequently, the European Parliament also called for sanctions against Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, the Mayor of Tbilisi, the Secretary-General of the ruling Georgian Dream party Kakha Kaladze, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili, and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

And it got worse. On November 4, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, at a press conference in Brussels presenting the European Commission’s annual enlargement report, stated that Georgia received the worst report in the entire history of candidate countries. Meanwhile, European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas said that Georgia’s prospects for EU membership are negative, naming several countries considered promising candidates for membership by 2030: Albania, Montenegro, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Then came Ambassador Fischer’s statement about closing the “Georgian file,” which highlights a nuance reflecting Germany’s overall position on Georgia’s EU integration. In his statement, the German diplomat accused the Georgian authorities of “smashing non-governmental organisations, violating protesters’ rights, destroying political parties, and imprisoning some opposition leaders.”

Overall, this statement simply reaffirmed his stance. Fischer regularly criticises the Georgian government’s policies for departing from democratic standards and has publicly supported protesters who claimed their rights were violated. In Tbilisi, this was perceived as interference in the country’s internal affairs. In September, the German ambassador was summoned to the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was accused of “attempting to promote a radical agenda” and making “unfounded attacks on the government.” Germany called the Georgian authorities’ actions “baseless” and lodged a protest with the Georgian chargé d’affaires.

Subsequently, on October 19, Fischer was recalled to Berlin for consultations, during which Germany stated that the ambassador was the target of a “smear campaign.” He returned to Georgia on November 8, and just six days later, on November 14, he appeared again at a protest in Tbilisi.

In response, Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili described the latest statement by the German diplomat as a threat to Georgia’s EU integration.

"This is how the Ambassador constantly threatens us. He speaks in this tone to the public of the country where he represents Germany. It's very sad," she said in an interview with the country's Public Television.

“In general, it is the duty and function of an ambassador to foster relations between two countries, and when relations become complicated, to play a positive role. What we see instead is the opposite. In this case, we are witnessing an extraordinary deterioration of relations,” the minister continued.

Thus, as recent events show, tensions between Tbilisi and Brussels continue to grow exponentially. It is worth noting that Georgia places the blame for this entirely on the European Union, arguing that its policy of heavy-handed pressure—allegedly justified by the country’s failure to meet key EU integration requirements—is nothing other than direct interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, which has the right to pursue its own national interests rather than follow external directives.

Against this backdrop, it is worth highlighting the position of the Georgian authorities, who, despite all the pressure, remain committed to the European path, as reflected in statements by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

“I want to remind everyone that we have not halted any process of European integration. The European Union itself even documented that it was they who suspended dialogue with Georgia on 27 June 2024, without any grounds. This was an extremely unfair decision toward the Georgian people. After that, they brazenly claimed that we had suspended the process—when in fact it had already been suspended by them in June,” he said recently in the Georgian Parliament. The prime minister also expressed hope that, in the future, the European bureaucracy’s approach toward the Georgian people would change.

However, in light of the recent statement by the German ambassador, the European Union and its leading member states appear unwilling to alter either their stance or their course of action, and they are likely to continue pressuring countries that refuse to submit to their dictates.