Rift deepens

Georgia does not want to negotiate with the EU until 2028

Protest against the government in Georgia

(Bild: AP/Shakh Aivazov)

The rift between the EU and the accession candidate Georgia is deepening. Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that there will be no negotiations on accession until the end of 2028. Budget subsidies would also not be accepted during this period.

Kobakhidze said that Brussels' demands for accession talks were a form of blackmail to which Georgia did not want to expose itself. After all, integration was a mutual act, not a charitable gift. The European Parliament had previously demanded in a resolution that the results of the parliamentary elections at the end of October, with the officially declared victory of the Georgian Dream party, should not be recognized. This is now the ruling party.

Membership by 2030?
Nevertheless, the goal is to achieve EU membership by 2030, said the new head of government. In any case, the European Union must respect "our national interests and traditional values". In the past, Kobakhidze had accused governments of European countries and the White House of wanting to drag Georgia into the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The country has been an official candidate for EU membership since December 2023. Since then, the government has passed several laws that are causing concern among politicians in Brussels. These include a law that prohibits "foreign influence" based on the Russian model and another that discriminates against sexual minorities. The accession process was therefore frozen at the end of June.

The Georgian opposition accuses the government of wanting to distance the country from the EU and bring the former Soviet republic closer to Russia again. Furthermore, the election victory was only achieved through manipulation.