Georgian FM: Brussels instrumentalising EU Integration issues for political goals

Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili on Wednesday cautioned that the upcoming European Commission report on Georgia’s EU integration progress could be manipulated for political ends, reflecting a broader pattern of instrumentalisation from Brussels.

In her remarks, Botchorishvili highlighted a trend where Brussels politicised every aspect of Georgia’s European integration path, warning that the upcoming report might follow suit as a tool of influence.

“We see that from Brussels, every issue related to European integration is being used for political purposes - every issue is being instrumentalised. I do not rule out that this report will also be a kind of instrument in this direction”, she said.

The Foreign Minister questioned the potential impartiality of the document, noting a year-long pattern of biased views from EU officials toward Georgia’s internal processes.

“It is difficult to say in advance what will be reflected, but we can assume how objective this report might be. One thing that must be said is that throughout the year, we have observed and seen that there is little desire from Brussels to view the processes taking place in Georgia objectively. Therefore, it is very difficult to expect objective assessments in the report that will be published next week”, she noted.

Botchorishvili specifically pointed to Brussels’ silence on the October 4 violent storming of the presidential palace, arguing that this omission undermined expectations of balanced or positive evaluations in the report.

“One thing we can say is that we lack objective assessments from Brussels to such an extent that we have not even managed to have the events of October 4 called by their proper name, to have them objectively evaluated, and for Brussels to distance itself from the violence and attacks being carried out against democratic institutions in Georgia. Given this, it is difficult to have expectations of positive or objective assessments in the European Commission's report”, the FM concluded.