TBILISI, December 17 – Georgia’s ruling party has sharply rejected a new European Union document that says the country’s accession process has effectively stalled. Opposition figures argue the assessment reflects political reality on the ground.
The conclusions were adopted on December 16 after a meeting of the EU Council on enlargement, chaired by Denmark. The document was backed by 26 EU member states, with Hungary opposing it.
It says Georgia’s path toward EU membership has reached a dead end and urges the authorities to release what it calls all unjustly detained politicians, journalists and activists. It also calls on Tbilisi to immediately meet visa liberalization criteria.
Leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party reacted strongly against the recommendations, Rezonansi reports. Levan Makhashvili, who chairs parliament’s European integration committee, said the document amounted to propaganda rather than evidence-based assessments and questioned what right the EU as an external actor has to make demands toward a country’s elected government.
Parliament’s first vice speaker, Gia Volski, said the document encourages revolutionary change rather than democratic process, arguing that efforts to replace the government through elections had failed and are now being pursued through other means.
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze also weighed in, accusing what he called European bureaucracy of spreading false accusations and losing credibility. He said the Georgian government is in a defensive position and will not stay silent in the face of what it views as attacks.
Among the opposition, the recommendations were welcomed. Tazo Datunashvili of the Lelo alliance said EU institutions are obliged to assess the situation in candidate countries and that it is evident without detailed analysis that democry is on the decline in Georgia. He pointed to legal changes and arrests that, in his view, are in violation of both international standards and Georgia’s own constitution.
According to Datunashvili, continued EU attention shows that Georgia remains a candidate country and that European institutions care about the state of democratic values and human rights in countries seeking membership.
The EU Council document itself expresses support for what it describes as the European aspirations of the majority of Georgia’s population. At the same time, it cites worsening situation in terms of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, including the adoption of legislation restricting civil society, the use of courts for political purposes, pressure on opposition figures, and arrests of protesters and journalists.
The Council also criticizes anti-EU narratives and disinformation attributed to the Georgian authorities, urges closer alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy, including sanctions against Russia and Belarus, and reiterates support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
