The President of Georgia expects a “big bang” when three countries join the EU at once

The accession of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union will occur at approximately the same time, this event will be a “big bang,” Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said in interview French channel LCI.

The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, previously admittedthat Ukraine can join the EU by 2030. Kyiv has become a candidate for membership in the community, and Georgia has just submitted an application. In response to a channel journalist’s remark that Tbilisi’s entry into the bloc could happen later than 2030, Zurabishvili admitted that the accession of new members to the EU will happen simultaneously.

“It will happen in 2030, 2031 or 2029, I don’t know, but this horizon will be the next big bang.” We are a trio, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia,” said the head of state.

According to Zurabishvili, in Georgia the number of supporters of the country joining the European Union has grown. Citizens support such a move for the sake of security, which they put “above prosperity and economic development,” she added.

On November 8, the European Commission (EC) made a recommendation to begin negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on their membership in the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Kyiv had fulfilled 90% of last year’s EU requirements, and praised Chisinau for steps in legal reform, de-oligarchization and anti-corruption. At the same time, von der Leyen urged not to focus on 2030 as the year of EU enlargement, without naming another date. At the same time, the EC recommended giving Georgia candidate status for EU membership, provided that Tbilisi follows the union’s foreign policy.

In June 2022, the European Council put forward 12 requirements for Georgia to be granted candidacy for EU membership. Among them were “deoligarchization”, respect for gender equality, taking into account the decisions of the ECHR, the election of an independent public defender of Georgia, etc. The Georgian authorities managed to fully fulfill three conditions, while seven recommendations were only partially implemented, and in relation to the last two – media pluralism and criminal procedures against media owners – there was no visible progress.