Georgia

The Brief – Beware of unkept promises
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has revived Europe's enlargement, a process that has been deemed dead. Now EU member states need to keep it alive.
Georgia should become a candidate for EU membership
Georgia’s application for EU membership did not come out of the blue. It was neither on a whim of the government nor a cynical exploitation of growing European sympathy towards Ukraine, write Nikoloz Samkaharadze and Giorgi Khelashvili.
Three imperilled neighbours on this Europe Day
The European Union has to decide its future also by responding to the latest calls for EU membership from Ukraine and the two other Associated states, Georgia and Moldova, writes Tinatin Akhvlediani.
Associate memberships revisited: How to get the EU enlargement policy right
The alternative to a decades-long EU enlargement process would be to revive a concept discussed at the turn of the millennium: Associate memberships as a preliminary stage to full membership writes Andreas Wittkowsky.
The EU must encourage Georgia’s European perspective
The war in Ukraine highlights not only Georgia’s security predicament but also the long way the country has come since the 2008 invasion by Russia. While becoming a member state may take time, the EU must send the right signals...
Responding to Putin’s war by granting candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia
The requests from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia for acceding to the EU were presented as matters of extreme urgency. Although the EU’s normal accession process is long, an immediate and strategic response is needed, an international group of analysts write.
EaP Summit – Why the Trio initiative should finally find its way
The upcoming EaP summit (15 December) will be a watershed to either push for a visionary policy or to play “business as usual”, write Teona Lavrelashvili and Ramūnas Stanionis, who share their ideas how to boost the ‘Associated Trio’ format.
Thirteen years on – 20% of Georgia is still occupied by Russia
It is crucial that the EU beefs-up its presence in South Caucasus more broadly, particularly on security and conflict related issues, write Amanda Paul and Iana Maisuradze in an analysis of the situation in Georgia 13 years after the 2008 war which depleted the country of 20% of its territory.
Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine: A higher EU ambition
The foreign ministers of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are together in Brussels on Thursday (24 June) for their first joint visit to the EU since the three countries formalised the format of ‘Associated Trio’ last May. This exclusive opinion by David Zalkaliani, Aureliu Ciocoim and Dmytro Kuleba highlights their countries’ higher EU ambition.
The EU should get serious about Georgia’s political crisis
The lack of visionaries in Georgian politics increases the European Union’s responsibility to make sure that the country gets out of its current crisis, write Vakshuti Menabde and Teona Lavrelashvili. By Vakhushti Menabde is director of Program of Support for...
The Brief, powered by amfori – Georgia on my mind
How much good can a single man do for his country? And how many bad things? And isn’t it extraordinary if the same man can do good things during one part of his life and bad things in the other?Promoted content

Why the future is local for the Eastern Partnership
After having interacted over the past decade, the European Union is now better placed to engage with Eastern Partnership states and to prepare the post-2020 partnership framework. By the Presidents of the national associations of local governments Kakha Kaladze of...
Georgia is striving to relaunch the machinery of world diplomacy
Since COVID-19 changed our lives, the larger powers are virtually alone in meeting global challenges, while smaller countries like Georgia are striving to re-launch the machinery of the larger debates, Salome Zourabishvili, the President of Georgia, writes in an exclusive...
Georgia is ready to apply for membership by 2024 – Is the EU ready too?
The absence of the official “enlargement perspective” doesn’t meant that Georgia should be discouraged lodging a membership application. But in order to succeed, Georgia should be more creative in its foreign policy, write Teona Lavrelashvili and Steven Van Hecke.
A Georgian perspective: Peace in the South Caucasus is the only common goal
It is perfectly natural for Georgia, as a neighbouring country, to express her readiness to support a Nagorno-Karabakh peace process and host a dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, writes Victor Kipiani.
12 years after war: Georgia moving forward but still searching for justice
The Russian aggression of August 2008 against Georgia was a blatant attempt to change the borders of Europe by force, launching a series of events spreading over the wider region, writes David Zalkaliani.
Georgia votes on turning West, not East
Despite the Russian occupation, COVID-19 and the economic recession in the world, Georgia continues to strengthen its democracy – the government is currently preparing for Parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2020, writes Archil Talakvadze.
Western democracy is still advancing: Just look at Georgia
For every Hong Kong, with all the difficulties played out in the global media, there is a Georgia where the slow advance and entrenchment of liberal democracy is often barely witnessed beyond the Western Embassies in Tbilisi, argues Andrew Rosindell....
Electoral reform – the good news we missed from Georgia
Georgia is becoming, once again, a country to be watched by those who value liberty and the expansion of freedom and prosperity, writes Krassen Stanchev.
It is time for the EU to build security partnerships with its neighbours
As the EU is discussing the way to develop the Eastern Partnership policy for the decade ahead, it is time for the EU to finally become more ambitious about the security dimension of this partnership, three former Eastern Partnership foreign...
The Commission’s Eastern Partnership strategy is disappointing
Distance should not be a criterion: Georgia is better prepared for EU membership than the frontrunners of the Western Balkans, writes Andrius Kubilius.
What should the EU do about South Caucasus? Here are some proposals
It appears the South Caucasus is not a foreign policy priority of the new European Commission. But it should be, write Dennis Sammut and Amanda Paul.
What is the Eastern Partnership and what it’s not
Georgia intends to continue on its path to EU membership and wants to use all available opportunities and instruments to achieve this self-proclaimed objective, writes David Zalkaliani.