Georgia is denied EU candidate status

The European Commission has decided not to recommend candidate status to Georgia.

© Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

This Friday, Georgia was refused the status of candidate to the European Union, unlike Ukraine and Moldova.

It is a big disappointment in Tbilisi, the country having long been considered the best student of the six countries of the Eastern Partnership, these former Soviet republics which have had a special relationship with the EU since 2009.

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With our correspondent in Tbilisi,

The blow is harsh, without being at all a surprise.

For at least two years, the ruling party, the “

 ”, of the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, has multiplied gestures going against the values ​​promoted by Europe.

The electoral process is less and less democratic, there is a refusal to reform the justice system, dubious arrests of political adversaries and pressure on certain media.

The whole thing is often accompanied by very harsh, even insulting, rhetoric towards European representatives.

Improvement requests

As a result, the European Commission recommended subjecting the granting of candidate status to Georgia to certain conditions: improvement of the democratic climate, independence of justice, freer media environment, etc.

Usually very haughty towards European representatives, the leader of the ruling party, Irakli Kobakhidze, has promised that the "Georgian Dream" will do everything to fulfill these conditions.

Civil society organizations are calling for a big demonstration on Monday to force the government,

, to do everything to make Georgia's European dream come true.

►Also read: International guest - Salomé Zurabishvili: "Russia has always counted on the division of Europeans"

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• Georgia

• European Union

• Bidzina Ivanishvili