“Georgia is a candidate country but we reached a very difficult moment in this process when due to the course of the Georgian government, Georgia’s EU accession process has come to a halt,” said German Ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer.

Before the opening of a 2-day conference “EU Enlargement: A geopolitical necessity and the next steps for the EU Candidate States,” the German Ambassador said that it was “sad and regrettable” because “it could be very different.”

As Peter Fischer noted, the speed and the quality of the accession process are in the hands of the accession candidates.

“We could be advancing very quickly. We would like to advance but the speed and the quality of the accession process are in the hands of the accession candidates. Now, speaking for Germany, we are also reviewing across the board our relationship with Georgia. We have a very broad and deep relationship, as you probably know. We are along with the USA, one of the largest donors of development cooperation for Georgia. We have decided not to enter into any new commitments with Georgia at this time. So, no new financial commitments to Georgia from Germany at this time.

The German military has also canceled its participation in the exercise Noble Partner. We have canceled a big legal forum that took place in Tbilisi last year, and it was due to take place in Berlin this summer. We have canceled that. And we are reviewing further actions. Just to summarize, the accession process has come to a halt. It’s very regrettable. We should be in a much better place. We should be advancing, and my appeal is really to our Georgian friends. We would like you to join the EU. You’re very welcome to join the EU, but, you know the process, you have to meet our standard. And if you don’t, then you cannot join. So, Georgian citizens and Georgian friends should really think about how important is the EU to yourselves, to your children, to your grandchildren. If you want it, you have to get back on course,” he said.