“I think that all of us have woken up today in a completely new reality. We took note of the announcement of Mister Kobakhidze yesterday announcing that Georgia is not interested in pursuing EU membership for the next four years. Of course, it is extremely regrettable, and for me, it is truly heart-breaking,” said EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski.

According to the Ambassador, what happened yesterday goes against the will of the vast majority of Georgians.

“I remember two years ago when I arrived in Georgia. My boss, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said public – Georgia belongs to the European Union! The European Union will not be complete without Georgia. These were the words which guided our work for the last two years. These were the words that guided my work here as the EU Ambassador for the last two years. I was very proud when the European Union decided to open our doors to Georgia. The EU granted Georgia the status of a candidate country for EU membership and what happened yesterday clearly goes against the policy of the previous government of Georgia, actually all previous governments of Georgia. As I understand it also goes against the will of the vast majority of Georgians. But of course, Georgia is an independent country, a sovereign country and it is for Georgia to decide if Georgia wants to pursue European integration or not. From my point of view, this is very regrettable, deplorable and sad,” he said.

Pawel Herczynski explained that it is up to each country to decide which policy it wants to pursue.

“We are proud to be the union of 27 member states. Our strength comes from unity but also from our diversity. This is why we decided to further enlarge. We have extended the possibility of becoming a member of the European Union to the countries in the East – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, which became candidates for EU membership. But it is for each country to decide what policy it wants to pursue, what family it wants to join,” he said.

On November 28, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced at the briefing: ” The government decided not to place the issue of opening accession negotiations with the EU on the agenda until the end of 2028. We also refuse any budgetary grants from the EU until the end of 2028.”