EU Proposes Candidate Status to Georgia in Exchange for Sanctions Against Russia and More
The European Commission has endorsed granting Georgia candidate status for EU membership, contingent on Tbilisi fulfilling a series of steps. This was announced in a statement by the European Commission on Twitter.
According to the report published by the European Commission, Georgia's legislative framework, institutional structure, and active civil society provide the country with a certain level of preparedness for further democratic reforms and rule of law improvements. However, the reform process in the country is constantly hindered by ongoing political tensions, deep polarization, a lack of constructive interaction between political parties, and challenges in reaching consensus on key issues that are of national interest.
Currently, Georgia needs to focus on implementing nine priorities:
- Combatting disinformation and manipulation of foreign information about the EU and European values.
- Ensuring Georgia aligns with the EU's foreign and security policy, including the synchronization of sanctions against Russia.
- Overcoming political polarization.
- Conducting fair elections, especially in the context of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
- Enhancing institutional independence, including the National Bank and the National Communications Commission.
- Judicial reform.
- Combating corruption.
- De-oligarchization.
- Protecting human rights, minority rights, media, and civil activists.
It's worth noting that last year, the European Council declined to grant Georgia candidate status for EU accession, only recognizing the country's European perspective.
As reported by The Gaze, it also became known today that the European Commission has recommended starting negotiations with Ukraine on its accession to the European Union. This was announced by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
According to her, Ukraine continues to fight Russian aggression while implementing important reforms at home, even in the face of the ongoing conflict. Her recent research during a visit to Kyiv confirmed that Ukraine has already made significant progress, completing about 90% of the necessary steps for further integration into the European Union. This progress includes judicial reforms, anti-corruption measures and de-oligarchisation of the country.