“The European Commission considers that Georgia is a candidate country in name only,” said Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement, during the European Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee meeting, where she presented the progress reports reached by the countries involved in the EU enlargement process.

According to Marta Kos, the situation in Georgia sharply deteriorated.

“In Georgia, the situation has sharply deteriorated with serious democratic backsliding as never before in one of the candidate countries. We saw a rapid erosion of the rule of law and severe restrictions on fundamental rights. Georgian authorities need to urgently reverse their course to respond to their citizens’ demand for a European future. Following last year’s European Council conclusions that the Georgian government’s actions have de facto led to a halt of the pre-accession process, and in light of Georgia’s continued backsliding on the fundamentals. Since then, the Commission has considered Georgia a candidate country in name only,” she said.

The European Commission (EC) published its EU Enlargement Report on candidate countries, including Georgia.