“Blackmailing about opening the accession negotiations must stop. If they want to open negotiations, let them put it on the table, and I will sign it today,” said Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze at a press conference.

According to Irakli Kobakhidze, the ruling team could have said at a briefing that it refuses to open negotiations for four years, but they did not say that.

“We have made it clear that we are removing this issue from our agenda for the next four years. Throughout this period, EU candidate status has been used as a tool for blackmail. It was a catastrophe for our country during a time when we most needed peace—specifically at the start of the war in Ukraine. It was then that our country began to face blackmail related to candidate status, a situation that lasted for almost two years.

From February 2022 to December 2023, we were subjected to this blackmail. Once that tool lost its effectiveness and we were granted candidate status, they shifted to blackmailing us about the opening of accession talks. This tactic has persisted for three years and serves only as an artificial means to divide society, incite polarization, and fuel radicalism. This must end.

Therefore, we have a straightforward message: the blackmail must come to an end. If they truly wish to open negotiations, they should present it, and I will sign it today. We are firm in our stance: from our side, this issue will not be on the agenda for the next four years, so we do not leave anyone with a tool for blackmail,” stated Irakli Kobakhidze.