Not granting Georgia EU candidate status will be “bad signal” - Ruling party head

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said failure to grant the country the European Union membership candidate status later this year would be a “bad signal”.

In his comments while presenting a report on the implementation of the conditions for obtaining the status, Kobakhidze noted the decision on the status would be a “political” one.

The decision to grant the candidate status will be a political one. The risk associated with this issue is that the 27 [EU member] countries and everyone has to make this decision with full consensus - it is enough for one country to step aside and we will no longer be granted the candidate status. The political risks are very high”, he said. 

“Regarding the possible refusal to grant the candidate status, the effect from an international point of view and the question of whether this will be a gift for Russia, it will be a very bad signal”, the party official also noted.

Kobakhidze said last year’s decision to only grant Georgia a European perspective had also been a “very bad signal”, adding the Government hoped for a “positive” message from the decision in 2023.