The cold shoulder given to Georgian leaders stands in stark contrast to the warm relations that EU officials have with neighbouring governments that have much worse records on democracy and human rights, reads the article, published by the International Crisis Group [ICG].

“The Georgia conundrum has created a dilemma for EU leaders: whether to keep imposing punitive measures in an attempt to steer Georgia’s foreign and domestic policy back to the path toward membership, or to put membership on the back burner in favour of regional cooperation and broader geopolitical interests. EU member states are split.

The dominant camp, largely representing northern member states and EU institutions themselves, takes a hardline approach.

They hope that increased pressure will force Georgian Dream to return to a more EU-friendly track or enable a more compliant government to take power. The other camp, consisting mostly of southern member states, adopts a more pragmatic approach. These states tend to have closer bilateral ties with Georgia than do northern states: they often buy natural gas from Azerbaijan that transits through Georgia, they host large numbers of Georgian migrant workers and they want constructive ties with Tbilisi, any political differences notwithstanding. In the opinion of these governments, the current hardline EU approach damages European interests in the region.

The cold shoulder given to Georgian leaders stands in stark contrast to the warm relations that EU officials have with neighbouring governments that have much worse records on democracy and human rights, like Azerbaijan and Türkiye, which also remains a candidate country even though its accession process is frozen. EU officials justify what seem to be different rules in two ways. One is that Georgian Dream itself has asked to be judged by higher standards in seeking EU membership and by continuing to tell voters that membership remains a realistic goal. The other is the perception, rooted in realpolitik, that Azerbaijan and Türkiye are much more important to Brussels: Azerbaijan for its role in supplying non-Russian energy to Europe, and Türkiye for cooperation on migration, Ukraine, Syria and several other critical issues. Unlike Georgian Dream, finally, Turkish and Azerbaijani leaders have not sought to intimidate European diplomats.

Yet even among the Europeans most critical of the Georgian authorities, there is recognition that isolation and pressure have not yielded the desired effects, and a sense that new ideas are needed to break the impasse. France, for instance, has evinced fresh interest in engagement with Tbilisi after previously showing little inclination to soften its stance toward Georgia”, - reads the article.