Georgian Prime Minister: European Union should not be associated with hatred

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday accused the European bureaucracy of engaging in “unprecedented blackmail” against Georgia, claiming that the EU had unfairly denied the country candidate status while favouring other nations like Moldova and Bosnia.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze noted that despite Georgia being acknowledged as ahead of other candidate countries, it was denied EU candidate status without justification.

“In 2022, we refused to get involved in the war, and after that, an absolutely unprecedented blackmail began. First, they denied us candidate status without any justification, and then they repeatedly acknowledged that Georgia is ahead of all other candidate countries”, Kobakhidze said.

“It’s clear what this is about. We refused to comply with their demands, and after that, they started using European bureaucracy to blackmail the Georgian people and the Georgian Government, which is very regrettable”, he continued.

The PM criticised the EU for what he described as promoting hatred and openly supporting the return of the opposition United National Movement to power.

“The EU cannot be associated with phenomena like hatred, and you see that this is what European bureaucracy is associated with today. They openly demanded the return of the National Movement to power when they called on people to go to the polls and vote for the National Movement’s return. The EU should not be associated with such things in the perception of the Georgian people”, he concluded.