Eka Sepashvili, member of the EU Integration Committee and the Deputy Chair of the Political Group “People’s Power”, delivered the address at the Conference of the European Integration Committees of the Parliaments of the Western Balkan Candidate States (COSAP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She reviewed the challenges facing Georgia.

“The EU should resume dialogue with Georgia, because it was the EU that suspended it, not us. Dialogue is necessary so that we may exchange views on the integration process and on developments taking place in Georgia”, - stated Eka Sepashvili.

According to her, Georgia has not halted its European integration process, and the country continues implementing reforms aimed at integration into the EU’s unified market.

“The European Commission published its enlargement report, which assesses the progress of countries in terms of European integration, and this report, to put it mildly, was not based on the truth with respect to Georgia and did not reflect the actual situation in the country”, - she stressed.

She emphasized that Georgia remains firmly committed to the process of integration into the European Union.

“We have implemented more than 70% of the Association Agreement. It should be noted that the Association Agreement is not only our obligation—it is also an obligation of the European Union. The EU must also fulfill the commitments it undertook under the Association Agreement. In this respect, the EU has effectively failed to fulfill its obligations—specifically, I mean the dialogue process, which was suspended by the European Commission”, - stated Sepashvili.

According to her, statements have been made by the European Commission claiming that Georgia has halted the EU integration process, which does not correspond to the truth.

“This process has not been suspended. Every day, we implement reforms aimed at integration into the EU unified market, harmonizing our legislative system with the European and bringing it into full alignment. This work is carried out daily by our civil servants and various agencies. Our domestic agenda is defined and structured in a way that directly aligns with and responds to the European integration process. After the 2024 parliamentary elections in Georgia, the only decision we made was to ensure that the EU integration process could no longer be used by Euro-bureaucrats as a tool for political pressure on Georgian society and the government of Georgia. We announced that we would not request the opening of accession negotiations with the EU until 2028. We stated that we would be ready to begin negotiations only in 2028, as by that time the full spectrum of commitments under the Association Agreement will have been fulfilled. Meanwhile, the EU itself stated that it would not be ready for enlargement until 2030. Therefore, it is very natural and logical that we decided to begin Georgia’s accession negotiation process only in 2028—when we will have fully implemented the Association Agreement and when the EU itself will be prepared to launch accession negotiations and proceed with enlargement, allowing another country to join the EU single market”, - she stated.

As per her statement, it was the EU and the European Commission that suspended dialogue with Georgia, which, in her view, is not a democratic step, as democracy is based on dialogue, exchange, and debate.

“The suspension of the dialogue process by the European Union, in my opinion, was a major strategic mistake by the EU, because without stability, peace, and security in Georgia, it is impossible to build and strengthen Europe’s architecture of stability and security. Georgia is a very important part of the entire European security architecture. Therefore, I believe the EU should resume dialogue with Georgia, because it was the EU that suspended it, not us. Dialogue is necessary so that we may exchange views on the integration process and on developments taking place in Georgia”, - she ended her address.