Georgian PM expresses optimism for EU membership by 2030

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Sunday voiced confidence that Georgia could join the European Union by 2030, distinguishing it from other membership candidate countries, while criticising the EU’s 2022 candidate status process as a mechanism to pressure Georgia.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze reflected on the 2022 EU candidate status granted to Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, alleging it was a strategic move to exert artificial pressure on Georgia rather than a genuine step toward membership for any of the three nations.

“I want to remind you what happened in 2022. Bureaucrats from the European Union offered Ukraine the opportunity to apply for candidate status, which logically led to applications from Moldova and Georgia. However, at that time, no one even considered the possibility of these three countries joining the EU. Everything was designed for one simple purpose – to create a mechanism for exerting pressure on Georgia artificially. The idea of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia joining the EU wasn’t even on the table”, Kobakhidze said.

The Prime Minister expressed hope that Georgia would achieve EU membership by 2030, setting it apart from other candidate countries, provided the EU’s internal dynamics support such progress.

“Nevertheless, we remain optimistic and believe that by 2030, Georgia, unlike other candidate countries, will be able to join the EU, provided that processes in the EU proceed as they should, and not as they are currently unfolding. For now, the EU maintains a high level of prosperity due to inertia, but when you drop from 30 percent to 17 percent, it indicates a very serious economic trend”, he concluded.