European Commissioner Marta Kos delivered an assessment of Georgia’s EU integration prospects during the presentation of the 2025 Enlargement Package to the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET), warning that the country’s democratic deterioration has effectively frozen its accession process.
Kos said that while several candidate countries, including Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine, had achieved “significant progress” on their EU paths, Georgia’s trajectory has gone sharply in the opposite direction.
“In Georgia, the situation has sharply deteriorated, with serious democratic backsliding. We saw a rapid erosion of the rule of law and severe restrictions on fundamental rights,” Commissioner Kos stated.
According to her, Georgian authorities must “urgently reverse their course” and respond to the population’s continued pro-European aspirations.
Kos recalled that the European Council’s conclusions last year determined that the Georgian government’s actions had de facto halted the pre-accession process, a situation which has only worsened since.
“Following last year’s European Council conclusions that the Georgian government’s actions have de facto led to a halt of the pre-accession process, and in light of Georgia’s continued backsliding on the fundamentals, the Commission considers Georgia a candidate country in name only,” Kos declared.
The Commissioner’s remarks mark the strongest criticism yet from Brussels toward Tbilisi since the country was granted EU candidate status in 2023. Her statement underscores growing concerns in the EU about Georgia’s democratic direction, particularly regarding the rule of law, judicial independence, freedom of expression, and fundamental rights.
While neighbouring candidates have accelerated reforms and moved closer to EU alignment, Georgia now risks further isolation unless it demonstrates tangible progress on democratic standards and reaffirms its geopolitical commitment to the European path.
Kos concluded that 2026 would be a “moment of truth” for all aspiring members, especially those where reforms have stalled:
“High ambitions come with high expectations on reforms. Candidate countries must deliver lasting change and uphold democratic values if they wish to remain on the European track.”
