Georgians have been waiting for this opinion for almost a year and a half. After a first refusal in June 2022, the European Commission (EC) granted a conditional green light, Wednesday November 8, for the country to obtain the status of official candidate for the European Union (EU). “The enlargement process has provided impetus for important reforms in Georgia. The Commission therefore recommends to the Council [européen] to grant candidate country status, provided that a certain number of measures are taken”said the EU’s main executive body.
“This is our response to the occupation and to Russia”, said of this positive opinion, Wednesday evening, the Georgian president, Salomé Zourabichvili – whose powers are limited –, in front of a few hundred people gathered, at her call, in front of the presidential building, in Tbilisi, in order to celebrate the event . Russia has occupied 20% of Georgian territory since the short war in the summer of 2008, which resulted in the loss of the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
In the crowd, Ketevan Chachava, 35, savors this ” Celebration day “. “I am very happy, it is a huge step and a historic opportunity, assures this employee of an NGO, European and Georgian flags in hand. It is very important to support Georgia. A refusal would have been a terrible disappointment for the population and a great victory for Russia. »
Continue “de-oligarchization”
By delivering a positive recommendation, the European Commission has sent a clear signal of support to the population, more than 80% of whom are pro-European, according to polls. However, she wanted to avoid giving a blank check to the government, close to Moscow and which is increasing attacks on democracy, by attaching this opinion to nine conditions.
Georgia, a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, will therefore have to implement “specific reforms”, in order, in particular, to align with the EU’s common foreign and security policy: fight against disinformation, the polarization of political life and corruption, guarantee the independence of institutions and human rights, protect the media freedom. It will also have to continue the “de-oligarchization” – a term referring to the omnipotence of billionaire oligarch and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who runs the country from the shadows despite having no official position.
Georgia applied for official candidate status after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, along with Moldova and Ukraine, two other former Soviet republics. The Commission’s refusal sanctioned its democratic decline. Thousands of people then demonstrated to show their attachment to Europe and call for the resignation of the government, accused of sabotaging the country’s European perspective.
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