EU made “big mistake” by not granting Georgia its candidacy last year – PM

Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday told the parliament the European Union had made a “big mistake” last year by not granting Georgia its membership candidate status, unlike Ukraine and Moldova. 

In his parliamentary address, the PM reaffirmed his country had been “far ahead” of both Ukraine and Moldova with its level of democracy, and stressed if the bloc once again refused to grant the status to Georgia later this year it would be “another strategic mistake that the country’s government and the people do not deserve”. 

He, however, said Georgia’s obtaining a European perspective last year was “historic” and that “ no one would dream about it under the United National Movement government”. 

The  European Commission is scheduled to present its report on Georgia’s implementation of 12 conditions for obtaining the status in Autumn, which will be used by the European Council to decide on the status in December. 

Georgia applied for EU membership in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instead of scheduled 2024.