Georgian Dream's New Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili evaluates Georgia’s steps toward joining the European Union. She has noted in an exclusive interview with Euronews in Budapest, that Georgia's membership in the European Union has not started yet. “There is no EU decision on this topic”, she added.
Georgia applied for EU membership in March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The country was granted EU candidate status in December of the following year, to the delight of many Georgians who celebrated on the streets of Tbilisi.
The process was stopped this summer by the European Council, after EU leaders expressed concerns regarding recent developments in Georgia, particularly its controversial foreign influence law, dubbed the "transparency law" by the Georgian government.
The law was criticized by EU critics and was compared to a similar law in Russia.
“First of all, it is a very wrong interpretation of the Georgian government’s decision. We have not suspended the European integration process, we have not suspended negotiations, because negotiations on Georgia's membership into the European Union have not started yet. There is no EU decision on this topic”, - Bochorishvili said.
