European Commission recommends candidate status for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia must first meet certain conditions

The European Commission has recommended Ukraine and Moldova be granted EU candidate status, stating that Georgia must first meet certain conditions before receiving the status, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. 

Leyen suggested that the political and economic situation of the applicant countries had been studied closely. 

She stated that Ukraine needed to strengthen its judiciary, and anti-corruption institutions needed to be established, noting that Ukraine complied with 80% of the recommendations of the Venice Commission. 

Leyen stated that the law on ethnic minorities still needed to be adopted in Ukraine. 

Commenting on Moldova, she said that “we recommend that Moldova be given a European perspective, and the Commission recommends that Moldova be granted candidate status.” 

Leyen said that Georgia shared the same aspirations and potential as Ukraine and Moldova. 

“Its application has strengths such as market economy orientation and strong private sector. To succeed, the country must unite politically and pave the way for structural reforms on the road to the EU,” she said, adding that the path required engagement of the civil sector and large-scale political consensus. 

“Ukrainians are ready to die for a European perspective. We want them to live in the European dream,” Leyen concluded.

Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, applied for EU membership on 28 February. Georgia and Moldova did the same on March 3.

The Georgian Dream government has said that Georgia deserved EU candidate status more than Ukraine and Moldova, and has accused the United National Movement opposition and its satellites of acting against Georgia’s interests. 

For their part, the opposition claimed that the Georgian Dream government was doing everything possible to prevent the country from receiving the candidate status. 

The allegations have been exacerbated since June 9, when the European Parliament passed a critical resolution on the state of the media in Georgia, which included calls for sanctions against the founder of the Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili. 

With this resolution, the European Parliament called on the EU institutions to work for the granting of candidate status to Georgia in accordance with Article 49 of the EU Treaty and on the basis of merit and fulfillment of all criteria by the Georgian authorities.

Before the war in Ukraine, the Georgian Dream government had plans  to apply for EU membership in 2024.