The EU has granted Georgia candidate status, at a meeting of the European Council.
The council made up of the leaders of EU member states, announced the decision on Thursday evening. They also announced the EU would open accession negotiations with fellow Eastern Partnership members Ukraine and Moldova, keeping them one step ahead of Georgia in entering the bloc.
The Georgian Government reluctantly applied for membership on 3 March 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, following similar moves from the Ukrainian and Moldovan governments and public pressure to follow suit. In June 2022, the council granted Moldova and Ukraine candidate status while denying it to Georgia, giving the government 12 ‘priorities’ to address before their candidacy could be reconsidered.
Thursday’s decision by the EU comes despite the government making little to no progress on many of the 12 recommendations.
These include creating an independent judiciary, with politically sensitive cases widely believed to be ruled on by a ‘clan’ of judges cooperating with the government. Earlier this year, the US sanctioned several such judges.
Other ‘priorities’ included an apparent demand to prosecute the organisers of the 2021 homophobic riots in which at least 53 media workers were injured by far-right demonstrators. Despite the leaders of the far-right Alt Info having directed the attacks publicly, none have faced prosecution.
More about:
