Kaja Kallas: EU unable to adopt proposed measures under various sanctions regimes on Georgia due to lack of unanimous support among members

“Regarding Georgia, we have proposed several measures under different sanctions regime. So far, we have not been able to adopt them because of not of all member states being supportive,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said at a press conference following the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg.

Kallas announced that the European Commission will present its visa suspension mechanism report later this year, alongside possible changes to visa regulations for certain groups.

She also confirmed that Georgia had not been invited to the ministerial-level meeting held today with Black Sea and Central Asian countries.

The High Representative criticized the Georgian government’s actions toward independent media, civil society organizations, and peaceful protesters, describing them as incompatible with EU values and democratic standards.

When asked whether Georgia could still be considered for EU candidate status, she replied that this was ‘impossible’ under current circumstances.

“These are exactly the worries that the member states brought up, because the civil society, the room for civil society and journalists is really shrinking, and the measures that the Georgian government is taking against free media, against the civil society and against protesters goes against all the rules or the principles that we value in the European Union.

That’s why, of course, the question that you also raised about the candidate status, I mean, them being the candidates to become a European Union member, I mean, with these measures it is impossible to consider that this would be the case, because this is going totally in another direction with what Europe represents,” Kallas said.