Georgia wants EU membership, calls for positive turn in EU trends, says Georgian PM

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday said his Government's declared goal, including a constitutional objective, was to become a member of the European Union.

In his interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Kobakhidze noted that under these circumstances Georgia was also subjectively interested in seeing the negative trends currently evident in the EU reversed in a positive direction - trends that, he noted, the US administration has been openly discussing.

He further added that a potential end to the war in Ukraine could serve as both a general and specific basis for optimism regarding improved relations with the European Union.

“The European Union is weakening day by day, weakening from year to year. I have said this many times, and what I was talking about was directly recorded in the US Security Strategy. They said it directly, although for some reason the figures were cited differently there - they said 14%, but in reality, the European Union's share of the global economy has dropped to 17.5% from 30%. In 2008, it was 30%; last year it was 17.5%, and this year it will likely decrease further to 17%. The European Union is experiencing a regression from year to year in economic terms. Democracy, human rights, freedom of speech - in every direction, there is a very difficult situation; the trends are very grave”, the PM said.

He noted that the end of the war in Ukraine could be one of the factors influencing future developments, but questioned whether the weakening of the EU would lead to a more fair and balanced approach by EU bureaucracy toward Georgia.

“Our main interest is for the current trends in the European Union to be reversed. If this regression continues in terms of the economy, democracy, human rights, and so on, then of course the entire given reality changes for us as well, because it is our declared goal - and indeed our constitutional task - to become a member of the European Union. Under these conditions, we are subjectively interested in seeing those negative trends currently visible in the EU - which the US administration is also speaking openly about - turn back toward the positive”, he concluded.