Georgia refuses to negotiate EU membership until 2028
Illustrative photo: Georgia refused to begin negotiations on EU membership until 2028 (Getty Images)
The Georgian government refuses to start negotiations with the European Union until the end of 2028. The country has also rejected any budgetary subsidies from the EU, states the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, according to Radio Liberty.
"We have made the decision not to put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028. We also reject any budgetary grants from the European Union until the end of 2028," said Kobakhidze.
According to him, for Georgia, it is "absolutely unacceptable to consider integration into the European Union as a charity that the EU should provide us."
"We see that European politicians and bureaucrats use allocated grants and loans as blackmail against Georgia," he stated.
The Prime Minister added that the end of 2028 is the timeframe when Georgia will be ready, primarily economically, to begin negotiations on joining the European Union by 2030.
Georgian Parliamentary elections
On October 26, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia, during which violations were recorded, including widespread ballot stuffing, the issuance of multiple ballots to a single person, and clashes.
According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), the ruling Georgian Dream pro-Russian party received over 54% of the votes. However, the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabishvili, and the opposition did not recognize the results. Protests against the announced election results began in Tbilisi.
Four opposition parties overcame the 5% threshold and entered parliament but refused to accept the election results. A protest was held in Tbilisi after the elections.
The European Commission, in its enlargement report, stated that Georgia needs to change its course to continue its Euro-integration efforts.
