Georgia’s authorities have failed to address concerns over the state of democracy and fundamental rights, putting the country’s broader visa-free travel regime with the European Union at risk, according to the European Commission’s 2026 Enlargement Report.
Rikard Jozwiak, Europe Editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), highlighted the report’s key findings in a post on X ahead of its official publication on November 4.
“The key line in the 2026 EU Enlargement Report: Georgian authorities haven’t addressed concerns about the state of democracy and fundamental rights in the country that led the EU to suspend visa-free travel for Georgian diplomatic passport holders, putting the visa-free regime more generally at risk,” Jozwiak wrote.
He also pointed to the European Commission’s assessment that democratic backsliding in Georgia continues and that the country is effectively maintaining its EU candidate status only on paper.
“Progress in key areas continues to deteriorate, indicating that Georgia is only formally maintaining candidate status and is missing the opportunities offered by candidate status and the pre-accession process,” Jozwiak quoted from the report.
The European Commission is presenting its 2026 Enlargement Package in Brussels on November 4. The package assesses progress made by EU candidate and potential candidate countries in implementing reforms required for membership, including Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Türkiye.
