“For many years, the European Union has been proudly supporting Georgia’s development and Georgia’s wish to become a member of the European Union,” said Pawel Herczynski, EU Ambassador to Georgia, while visiting the Kakheti region.

He spoke about the amount of money the European Union spends each year on financing various projects in Georgia.

” I can tell you that every year we were spending more or less 85-100 million Euro in support of different projects. The vast majority of the sum has been given directly to the Georgian government. Nearly 50% was channelled directly to the state budget of Georgia. A big portion was given to our implementing partners, who are working with different ministries. Only a small portion was given to civil society and media representatives. We have decided, in reaction to the actions of the Georgian authorities, to stop financing Georgian authorities. So the money that used to go directly to the Georgian State budget and Georgian ministries will stop. And we are trying to redirect at least some of this money to support civil society and independent media. There are many different projects and a lot of money that’s being spent on different activities, especially focusing on the region, on resilience of local communities, environmental protection, equality, education, and many others, and we will continue to do this,” Pawel Herczynski said.

In addition, as the EU Ambassador noted, there is an ongoing discussion among EU member states about imposing sanctions on individuals responsible for human rights violations in Georgia. According to him, no consensus has been reached at present.

“I will not comment on any comments because I’m not a political commentator. I’m not an analyst, I’m not a scientist. I have the pleasure and honour to represent the European Union in Georgia. What I’m doing is presenting the European Union position. This position is worked by 27 EU member states. Let me remind you that three years ago, the Georgian government decided to apply for EU membership. In December 2023, the European Union decided to grant Georgia EU candidate status. As an applicant for EU membership and as a candidate status, the Georgian government has voluntarily put itself under the scrutiny of the European Union, and it is my obligation to inform the government, but also the public about the state of the relationship between Georgia and the European Union. And this is what I’m doing based on a decision that was reached between 27 EU member states. And if you want to have specific information about the current state of discussions about EU-Georgia relationships, I am also the person entitled to do it. Yes, I can confirm there has been an ongoing discussion among EU 27 capitals about the introduction of sanctions targeting those individuals in Georgia who are responsible for human rights abuses. For the moment, there is no unanimity, but the work continues and I hope that unanimity will be reached,” the EU Ambassador said.

According to the Ambassador, the Georgia-EU relationship is at a very low point.

“As an EU ambassador in Georgia, I’m doing my job. I do my job as well as I can. I wish I could praise the authorities for the current state of the EU-Georgia relationship, but unfortunately, as we all know, this state of relationship is at a very low point. I represent the European Union. I present the position of the European Union as agreed by 27 EU member states, including at the highest level, at the level of the European Council, and I will continue to do it as long as I’m here an EU ambassador,” he added.