“Due to the actions of the authorities, instead of getting closer to the European Union, Georgia is moving away,” said Paweł Herczyński, EU Ambassador to Georgia.

According to the Ambassador, EU membership is voluntary and it is up to Georgians to decide their future.

“It’s for people and the authorities of a country to decide freely if they want to join the European Union or they want to have some other alternatives. It is not for me to say what the Georgians should choose. It is for Georgians to decide. I was sent here nearly three years ago to make sure that Georgia moves fast forward and joins the European Union. And for a year and a half, it looked like we were on the right track.

Georgia became finally a candidate country. But since then, due to the actions of the authorities, instead of getting closer to the European Union, Georgia is moving away and where Georgia is going, it’s not my choice, it’s not my right, on the contrary, I shouldn’t say this. It’s for the Georgians to decide. What I can say and what I am fully entitled to say is that as the European Union, we have made a choice. We have decided. And you just have seen the President of the Commission repeat – the European Union from our point of view, will not be complete without Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. Others are moving fast forward, Georgia is moving away. This is the reality of today. I’m really sorry to say it so blatantly,” he said.