Spokesperson of European Commissioner for Enlargement, International Partnerships and the Mediterranean, Guillaume Mercier assesses Georgia-EU relations in an exclusive interview with Interpressnews.

According to him, the actions of the Georgian government do not correspond to the declared European aspirations and the democratic setback in the country has led to the suspension of the accession process.

In the interview, the spokesperson notes that recent events, in particular the adoption of laws that contradict EU and international standards and violence against peaceful protesters, have forced the EU to take additional measures against representatives of the Georgian government.

What path has Georgia taken so far towards EU membership, what should European structures and the Georgian government do to improve relations, and what does Georgia lose and will lose by distancing itself from the EU and the integration process? - Guillaume Mercier spoke about these and other issues in an exclusive interview with Interpressnews.

The European Union’s enlargement to the East and South is often discussed inside the block, but mostly they are crucially important for candidate countries. Currently there are 9 EU candidate countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, Ukraine and Kosovo as a potential candidate. We will discuss Georgia in the following questions. How would you evaluate the progress of the candidate countries so far? When should we expect the EU's next enlargement and which countries will be the firsts according to your assessment?

The EU’s enlargement policy is more than ever a geostrategic investment in long-term peace, stability, and security of the whole of our continent. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine since February 2022 further underlined the geopolitical significance of EU enlargement.

As President von der Leyen underlined in her 2024-2029 Political Guidelines, “it is a moral, political and geostrategic imperative to further complete our Union.”

Accession is and will remain a merit-based process, fully dependent on the objective progress achieved by each country.

Commissioner Kos has made it clear that during her mandate, she aims at completing accession negotiations with at least one candidate country.

Montenegro leads the way, with its own declared hope to become the 28th EU Member State by 2028. Montenegro has made good progress in the accession negotiations so far, with all 33 screened chapters opened and 6 provisionally closed. We will move forward with the provisional closure of chapters with Montenegro, once all conditions are met.

Albania opened the fundamentals and the external relations clusters last year, and we aim at opening further clusters in 2025.

Serbia has opened 22 out of 35 negotiating chapters, and provisionally closed 2 chapters. The Commission also welcomes the Member States’ recent agreement to invite Serbia to submit the two remaining negotiating positions under cluster 3. This procedural step paves the way for a decision on the opening of the three remaining chapters under this cluster that could be taken early this year, requiring unanimity by the Member States.

We expect to move forward with the opening of one Cluster 1 on fundamentals] with Ukraine and Moldova as soon as possible this year. The opening of Cluster 1 will also enable us to move forward with the opening of other Clusters with these two countries.

The Commission supports the opening of the first Cluster with North Macedonia as soon as the conditions set by the Council have been met and the constitutional amendments adopted.

Regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EU urges all political actors to renew the country’s focus on progressing on the EU path, with resolute action to take all relevant steps, so that the Council may then adopt the negotiating framework. In this context, the EU welcomes the parliamentary adoption of the law on Border Control and the law on Personal Data Protection on 30 January 2025. Nevertheless, to advance on the EU path further progress is need.

Regarding Kosovo, the Commission remains available to prepare an Opinion on Kosovo’s membership application as soon as the Council requests it.

Türkiye is still a candidate country, but accession negotiations with Türkiye remain at a standstill since 2018, in line with the decision of the Council. The underlying issues leading to this assessment still hold. Serious concerns remain in the areas of fundamental rights and rule of law, including the independence of the judiciary. Dialogue on rule of law and fundamental rights remain an integral part of the EU-Türkiye relationship. The 2024 Report underlines that the EU is re-engaging constructively with Ankara in a phased, proportionate and reversible manner, subject to established conditionalities.

In parallel to the crucial work we are doing on enlargement, the EU will ensure that the EU is fit for enlargement and is ready to welcome new Member States in the coming years, by undertaking the necessary internal reforms.

There is an ongoing war in Ukraine. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country applied for EU membership, got the candidate status and started accession negotiations officially last year. There are hopes that in the near future Ukraine will become an EU member state. How can you imagine accepting a country into the union which has ongoing war on its soil and about 20% occupied by Russia? What challenges will it bring for both sides?

Enlargement is a geostrategic investment in peace, security, stability and prosperity.

The EU’s priority is to continue supporting Ukraine to win the war and to regain effective control over its entire territory. We will continue to provide political, financial, economic, humanitarian military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed. Russia must not prevail.

Ukraine’s EU accession is at the core of the EU-Ukraine joint security commitments.

Ukraine is committed to its EU path and has made considerable progress despite the exceptional challenges caused by Russia’s war of aggression, as recorded in the last enlargement report. The EU will continue to support Ukraine in this process.

The path towards the EU is based on well-established criteria that applicant countries need to meet, which will require some time and substantial effort.

The decisions on the next steps on enlargement are in the hands of the Member States.

It is unfortunate to say, but currently the relations between Georgia and the European Union are deteriorated and badly damaged. But it is important to highlight that Georgia was one of the most active front-runner countries from Eastern Europe which always clearly expressed its willingness of European integration. Still today an overwhelming majority of the country’s population wants Georgia in the EU. How would you evaluate EU-Georgia’s relations since the very beginning? What were the steps Georgia managed to achieve so far and how did we come to this point of current relations?

Georgia has been a close partner of the European Union. Our relationship has been marked by numerous milestones and by a clear commitment to fundamental democratic values.

The EU has always been deeply committed to Georgia’s territorial integrity. Since October 2008, the EU has been present at the Abkhazia and South Ossetia administrative boundary lines with the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia to contribute to the stabilisation of the situation on the ground following the August 2008.

When it comes to trade relations, in July 2016, the Association Agreement / DCFTA entered into force, putting EU-Georgia relations on a completely new footing and setting the course for legal approximation and liberalising trade.

In 2017 the EU waived visa requirements for Georgians to strengthen people-to-people contacts. This also includes funding 6 500 exchanges between EU and Georgian citizens in the areas of education, training, youth, and sport under ERASMUS+ since 2021. Georgia is also participating in Horizon Europe to boost joint research undertakings.

In December 2023, the European Council granted candidate status to Georgia on the understanding that Georgia takes recommendations.

Since then, the actions of the Georgian authorities have been not in line with its stated European aspirations. The democratic backsliding seen in the country led to a de fact halt of the accession process, as expressed in the European Council conclusions in June 2024.

Georgia has been stuck in a deep political crisis since the Parliamentary elections of 26 October. The most recent developments, notably the adoption of more laws at odds with EU and international standards and the violence against peaceful protestors, led the EU to adopt additional measures. These include downgraded political contacts with Georgian authorities, stopping direct assistance to the Georgian authorities and suspending visa free travel for Georgian diplomats, officials and their families holding diplomatic and official passports.

What are your assessments of EU-Georgia’s current relations? Does the country have a chance to continue its European path with given conditions? And what should be done from both sides to overcome this tension and go back to normal relations?

The return of Georgia to the EU accession path is firmly in the hands of the Georgian authorities. The EU remains ready to engage should Georgia reverse course and resume its European path.

The EU’s approach towards Georgia has always been open and merit based. We have been clearly and repeatedly communicating our recommendations and concerns to the Georgian authorities.

The EU regrets Irakli Kobakhidze's statement of 28 November, regarding the Georgian Dream's decision not to pursue the opening of EU accession negotiations and to reject EU financial support until 2028.

This announcement represents a significant departure from the policies of previous Georgian governments and the European aspirations of the vast majority of the Georgian people, as reflected in Georgia's Constitution.

We remind that the course of actions taken by the Georgian authorities, coupled with democratic backsliding, led to the de facto halt of the EU accession process in June 2024. Additionally, EU financial assistance benefiting Georgian authorities is currently on hold.

The EU strongly condemns any violence against peaceful protesters who are standing up for their democratic and European future. These actions by the authorities have serious consequences for our bilateral relations.

We call on Georgian authorities to respect the right to freedom of assembly and expression. They must refrain from using force against peaceful protesters, politicians, or media representatives. All acts of violence must be fully investigated, and those responsible must be held accountable.

We expect clear and significant steps from the Georgian authorities underpinning their intentions to re-engage on the EU path.

The EU has outlined clear steps required to resume the accession process. They include the repeal of legislations running counter to EU norms and values, as well as a firm commitment to the implementation of the 9 Steps identified in the Commission’s December 2023 recommendations.

What does Georgia lose by distancing itself from the European Union and integration process?

In light of the negative developments in Georgia, the EU suspended all financial assistance directly benefiting the Georgian authorities in the summer 2024, including direct budget support. This amounts to more than EUR 120 million and covers among others support to the security sector and public finance management. For instance, we planned to provide equipment and technical assistance to the relevant Ministries to strengthen cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection.

In addition, we have put on hold new investments. At the same time, we will ensure and step our support to civil society and independent media.

The EU also decided to suspend visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic and service passports.

What is the official position of the European Commission towards the latest developments in Georgia? Do Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Kaja Kallas, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy share the same opinion as the other institutions of the European Union?

The European Commission and EU’s High Representative have issued multiple joint statement on this topic. Even today (7.02.2025), Commissioner Kos and High Representative Kallas reiterated that the recent developments mark a serious setback for Georgia’s democratic development and falls short of any expectations of an EU candidate country. The rushed adoption of amendments to the Code on Administrative Offences, Criminal Code and the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations will have far-reaching effects on Georgian society. They will significantly undermine the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and media freedom. The EU urges the authorities to suspend these measures, refrain from further tensions, and await the opinion of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), as requested by the Public Defender.

On 27 of January, European Union foreign ministers approved the suspension of visa-free travel for Georgian officials holding diplomatic passports. The move comes in response to a violent crackdown in Georgia on pro-EU protests. The suspension applies to members of official Georgian delegations attending official meetings and other events in EU territories, members of Georgia's national and regional governments, parliaments, the Constitutional Court, and diplomatic passport holders. However, these individuals will still be able to travel to Europe with ordinary passports. How effective do you consider such a decision by the European Union?

This decision demonstrates the willingness of the EU and its Member States to firmly react to the deteriorating situation on the ground. It is a strong signal to Georgia and the Georgians. The EU stands ready to take further actions to hold those responsible for the violence to account.

Beka Beriashvili

Brussels-based Correspondent of Interpressnews