The European Commission said that Georgia’s accession process to the bloc has been halted due to actions by the Georgian government in previous months.
The Caucasian country received candidate status in December 2023, but since then, the EU has looked with apprehension at the country’s politics. Last Spring, Georgia approved a controversial law on “foreign agents” that forces organisations receiving money from abroad to be audited and heavily scrutinised. Then, in the summer, the government passed a bill against LGBTQ+ rights, overturning a presidential veto on the law.
Finally, the EU observed that the recent parliamentary elections on October 26th were marred by controversy. The joint International Election Observation Mission led by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) found several procedural issues that hampered fair elections.
All of the above critical issues need addressing, and the preliminary findings on the electoral process have called on the EU to officially halt Georgia’s accession process.
The decision was revealed during the European Commission’s annual Enlargement Package, which updates on the progress of various candidate states. Currently, the Commission is checking the accession process for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Turkey.
Presiding over the report, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reported that “the tense geopolitical context makes it more compelling than ever that we complete the reunification of our continent” and promised that “enlargement will remain a top priority of the new Commission.”
Besides Georgia, all the other countries are slowly progressing in their accession path. Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia are the four countries more far ahead in the process, albeit with individual issues still lingering for all four. Serbia will need further steps over Kosovo in order to continue down the accession path. Regarding Ukraine, the Commission is confident it may start negotiations on fundamental reforms in 2025.
