Ruling party MP: Rasa Juknevičienė must clarify her remarks on EU enlargement, Ukraine war

Levan Machavariani, a member of Georgia's ruling parliamentary majority, has called on European Parliament member Rasa Juknevičienė to clarify her comments linking the European Union's enlargement momentum to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Machavariani on Thursday argued that if Juknevičienė meant that countries must "play by the rules of war" to join the EU, such a position would be unacceptable and damaging to the credibility of the European Union as an institution.

He described the MEP's remarks as a "slip of the tongue" and said they cast doubt on the consistency of the EU's messaging regarding enlargement and candidate countries.

The ruling party lawmaker also drew parallels with past statements about Ukraine's potential NATO membership, arguing that expectations regarding Euro-Atlantic integration have sometimes been presented inconsistently.

The comments came in response to Juknevičienė's statement that Georgia has failed to make use of the opportunity created by the EU's renewed focus on enlargement following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She noted that prior to the war, enlargement had not been a prominent topic on the European Union's agenda.