The price of candidate status: Borrell demanded that Tbilisi isolate Russia
The other day, the Georgian public was seriously alarmed by the rather sudden visit of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.
Despite the existence of different versions regarding the disposition with which the head of the foreign policy service of the European Union arrived in the country, there is no doubt that the purpose of the rendezvous was to clarify relations between Georgia and the EU.
The arrival of the European Commissioner to the capital of Georgia, although outwardly seemingly spontaneous, was by no means accidental that it came at a time of extreme aggravation of the confrontation between various branches of the country’s authorities, whose representatives reproach each other for differing views on the foreign policy course of the Georgian state.
The importance of the moment lies in the fact that there is very little time left before the publication of the European Commission’s annual report on EU enlargement. In a couple of months, based on the report with recommendations, the EU countries will have to decide whether or not to grant Georgia candidate status for EU membership. Apparently, the main purpose of Borrell’s visit was precisely to check the fulfillment of the conditions for obtaining the status of a candidate country for accession to the EU.
As ordinary Georgians reacted with some sarcasm to Borrell’s two-day visit, an auditor came to us!
Regarding the latter’s attitude towards the object of the audit, it seems that political analysts and experts were not left with much opportunity for interpretations. Indeed, in an interview with the European Commission on the eve of the visit to Georgia, it was stated that on the way to the European Union the country must continue reforms, the responsibility for the implementation of which lies, first of all, with its government.
Emphasizing that what is most important is the extent to which a candidate for EU membership supports the latter's foreign policy. In the case of Georgia, the head of the EU foreign policy service pointed to a negative trend in the level of coherence of foreign security policy. In particular, according to Borrell's significant statement, this figure is currently only 43%, while a couple of years ago it exceeded 60%.
“Because EU foreign policy is determined by consensus, with such a low level of agreement, “Georgia shows that it has the potential to undermine such consensus. And this is not something that member states (EU) take lightly,” a senior European official said in an interview.
These statements by Borrell served as a reason for politicians and experts opposed to the ruling force to evaluate the arrival of the European Commissioner as a final warning to the authorities regarding the implementation of 12 recommendations for obtaining the status of a candidate country.
On the other hand, pro-government politicians give very optimistic assessments of Borrell's visit. Thus, Nikol Samkharadze, head of the Committee on External Relations, said that the visit of the European Commissioner further strengthened the hope for a positive solution to the issue of the status of an EU candidate country.
The impetus for such pretentious statements could have been the statements of a Brussels official made at a press conference in Tbilisi:
“Don’t ever say that the European Union has abandoned you, I will never agree with that. But at the same time, I must say that EU membership is based on certain merits, on the implementation of recommendations, and it depends only on you.”
And although Brussels has plenty of complaints against Tbilisi, it is not in its favor to allow Georgia’s European integration to fail, since this would be a gift to Moscow. At the same time, Borrell made it clear to the Georgian government that they should not expect easy victories on the path to European integration and called for “using the time wisely to carry out reforms.”
It should be noted that of the 12 priorities presented by the European Union, European officials place particular emphasis on the demand for depolarization. Against the backdrop of the escalating confrontation between President Zurabishvili, who had actually joined the radical opposition political forces, and the Garibashvili government, the issue acquired additional relevance.
In this regard, the Georgian prime minister quite rightly noted that after the definition of these recommendations, polarization “not only did not decrease, but on the contrary, it intensified, because the radical forces operating in Georgia by their nature, with their experience... the most anti-European forces are trying to sabotage this process.” .
The fairness of the prime minister’s assessment of the Georgian opposition is evidenced by the statement of one of its leaders, Georgy Vashadze:
“We will not be able to become a full member of the European Union while the country is governed by the Georgian Dream, which cooperates with Russia, even if we receive candidate status at the end of December. … The Georgian Dream is the only thing standing in the way of European integration.”
It must be admitted that in the assessments of European officials and the radical Georgian opposition regarding the improving relations between Georgia and the Russian Federation in certain areas, there is a position with which the pragmatic foreign policy pursued by the Georgian government, aimed at the economic development of the country and the growth of the well-being of its citizens, is clearly at odds.
At the aforementioned press conference, it was no coincidence that a high-ranking European official focused on the extremely important importance of Russia’s isolation. Borrell openly stated that the EU expects efforts from its partners, including Georgia, to isolate Russia.
For its part, in Moscow Borrell’s visit was regarded as an attempt to justify the Armenian-American military exercises scheduled for next week and a response to the beginning of the intensification of the Georgian direction, which needs to be countered with something in the Caucasus.
Analysts also recognize Georgia’s strategic partnership with China, which was announced during the recent visit of the Georgian Prime Minister to China, as a factor hindering Georgia’s European integration and irritating not only the EU, but also the entire collective West. The global security initiative proposed by China and the cooperation planned between Tbilisi and Beijing within the framework of this initiative do not appeal to Georgia's Western strategic partners. Thus, immediately after Garibashvili’s Chinese voyage, former Defense Minister Khidasheli tried to predict its possible results:
“The Georgian government today tells us that it is establishing strategic cooperation with a country that has been identified by both the European Union and NATO as a threat equivalent to Russia. Therefore, this news puts us in a very difficult situation. And we can directly say that this step is aimed at further angering European politicians just before a decision is made on the candidate’s status.”
As not only analysts and experts, but many ordinary Georgian citizens think, the West cannot indifferently look at the steps that the Georgian government is taking towards softening relations with the Russian Federation and bringing Tbilisi closer to Beijing. The aggravation of contradictions between political forces and different branches of government within the country on the eve of the EU decision to grant Georgia candidate status served as a wonderful reason for a kind of blackmail of the Georgian government by European officials.
Borrell, who made an unsuccessful attempt to greet the audience present at the press conference in the Georgian language, and thereby win them over, aroused the contempt of the Georgian public, which does not hide its disappointment with his statements, which it regarded as hypocritical and unfair.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.