Georgia Halts EU Accession Efforts Until 2028

Kobakhidze stated that the Georgian Cabinet will refuse all EU budget support.

Photo: agenda.ge

Irakli Kobakhidze, leader of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party, announced on November 28 that the party had decided to suspend efforts to initiate European Union accession negotiations until at least 2028.

He also said the cabinet would refuse all EU budget support, The Caspian Post reports, citing Georgian media.

Kobakhidze announced the decision following the party consultation at the special briefing on November 28. He took the official party line that while EU membership remained the priority for 2030, this would happen only in Georgia’s terms of maintaining “dignity.” This manipulated argumentation flips the logic of EU accession, where the EU Copenhagen Criteria for functioning democracy and free market, the common regulatory framework, and the EU Council dictate the accession conditions and the regulatory framework.

Kobakhidze’s statement comes as the Georgian Dream claims victory in the October 26 elections despite concerns about vote-rigging. The opposition rejects the results and considers the parliament illegitimate, while the President’s appeal to the Constitutional Court remains, so far, unanswered. The European Parliament gave credence to these claims by adopting a resolution calling for sanctions against GD leaders and re-running the parliamentary elections.