The head of the ruling Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia party Irakli Kobakhidze said that Georgian officials are optimistic about the possibility of receiving candidate status for joining the European Union, Georgian Channel One reported. According to him, despite the efforts of the opposition, Tbilisi’s chances have increased qualitatively recently.
“We really hope that eventually this issue will be resolved in a positive way and the country will regain candidate status. In any case, the probability of this is increasing qualitatively, and this is also reflected in the opposition’s discourse. After all, it is clear that we are talking about something secondary to the status of the candidate. “At that time, they said that this was a historical chance, a historic decision, but today they say the opposite, they say that candidate status no longer has any meaning for our country,” he said.
He added that the opposition’s rhetoric regarding EU candidate status is another confirmation of a possible positive solution to this problem for Georgia. Kobakhidze emphasized that those who oppose the authorities are trying to persuade Brussels not to make a decision in favor of the country.
With the start of Russia’s military special operation in Ukraine at the end of February 2022, Western states imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia. The West tried to actively involve other countries in this campaign, including Georgia. However, Tbilisi refused to participate in restrictive measures and provide military assistance to Kiev. Georgian officials have repeatedly stated that this approach is specifically related to the protection of the interests of the people of the republic. In this context, the country, along with Ukraine and Moldova, could not receive EU candidate status. At the same time, the Georgian opposition strongly criticizes this policy of the authorities, including accusing the ruling party of its “connections with Russia” and creating an obstacle to the process of European integration of the republic.
Previously Georgia guess “Euromaidan” due to the actions of the EU.