Georgia applied for EU membership in March 2022 and was granted candidate status in December 2023, on the understanding that Georgia takes the relevant steps set out in the European Commission recommendation of November 2023.
“Congratulations, today is a historic day! 27 EU countries unanimously decided to grant the candidate status to Georgia. Congratulations […], first and foremost, to the people of Georgia, who devotedly support European integration. The voice of the people of Georgia is clearly heard in the European Union. As I am hearing you now and here.” – stated EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski.
See photos from the celebration event here.
The nine steps set out in the 2023 Enlargement Package include fighting disinformation and foreign information manipulation, improving alignment with the EU common foreign and security policy, addressing the issue of political polarisation, ensuring a free, fair and competitive electoral process, and ensuring a systemic approach to de-oligarchisation, and a holistic and effective judicial reform.
“Enlargement is a vital policy for the European Union. Completing our Union is the call of history, the natural horizon of our Union. Completing our Union, also has a strong economic and geopolitical logic. Past enlargements have shown the enormous benefits both for the accession countries and the EU. We all win.”- stated European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.
Find out more what does the EU Candidate Status mean for Georgia here
EU Ambassador’s Statement
Team Europe’s Message for Georgia
“My sincere congratulations to all political leaders in Georgia. My sincere congratulations to the government, to the opposition, to the Parliament, to the President, to the civil society, to the media, but first and foremost – to the people of Georgia, who have always consistently, in an unwavering way, supported Georgia’s European path. This is a big recognition from the European Union of the progress achieved within the last years. European aspirations are uniting all Georgians.”- The EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski
Watch his full statement ⇒
