Georgia will not open membership talks with the EU until 2028

The ruling Georgian Dream party has decided to suspend discussions with the European Union (EU) on opening accession talks with the union until 2028. This was announced by the republic's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze at a briefing.

"Today we have decided not to put the issue of opening negotiations with the EU on the agenda until the end of 2028. <...> The end of 2028 is the time when Georgia will be properly prepared from the economic point of view for the start of negotiations on joining the European Union in 2030," Imedinews news agency quoted him as saying.

Kobakhidze added that Georgia will continue to fulfill its obligations under the associated membership and free trade agreement and will fulfill them by 90% by 2028.

The Prime Minister also noted that Georgia should show European bureaucrats that it should talk to them "not with blackmail and insults, but with dignity".

According to him, the EU has been causing reputational damage to the country by using the topic of opening negotiations as a tool for manipulation. Therefore, the decision taken by the ruling party will avoid this damage.

Didn't believe in "Dream": Georgian authorities refused to cooperate with radical opposition

What will be the course of the Georgian ruling party and should we expect large-scale protests in the republic?

Earlier, on November 18, it was reported that the EU foreign ministers agreed to redirect €120 million of aid intended for the authorities to "support civil society". In addition, a political mission will be sent to Georgia to study what happened in the country, referring to the situation around the parliamentary elections held in the republic.

On May 14, the Georgian parliament adopted the law on foreign agents in the third and final reading. The country's President Salome Zurabishvili later said that she intended to veto the adopted bill. The situation around the law provoked a wave of protests.

The EC and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said in a joint statement that the adoption of the law on foreign agents by the Georgian authorities would have a negative impact on the country's integration into the European Union.