Russia’s Zakharova says Georgia could be named ‘unfriendly country’ if it joins EU
Georgia’s accession to the EU could result in the country being added to the Kremlin’s list of ‘unfriendly countries’, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
While Russia and Georgia have had no official diplomatic relations since the August 2008 War, Tbilisi has maintained a position of relative neutrality with the Kremlin that has increasingly tipped towards being positive since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. However, Georgia has reiterated that ties cannot be officially established until Russia revokes its recognition of the independence ofAbkhazia and South Ossetia.
‘Georgia’s accession to the EU, in view of the destructive demands from Brussels, will be a heavy blow to Georgia’s tourism industry and threaten the maintenance of communication between relatives living in Georgia and Russia — they may lose the opportunity to visit each other normally’, Zakharova said, referring to the significant Georgian diaspora in Russia.
Georgia was granted the status of EU candidate country in 2023, but officially suspended its accession efforts in 2024. EU officials have openly said Georgia is currently a candidate country in ‘name only’ and that its prospects of joining the bloc under the ruling Georgian Dream party are exceedingly low.
‘Georgia will have to comply with the energy embargo imposed against our country’, Zakharova said, adding that ‘joining the EU also means that Georgia will lose its preferential trade regime with Russia and the CIS countries, which are its main export markets’.
Along with the threat of Georgia being added to its list of unfriendly countries, Zakharova said Russia could ‘extend our retaliatory economic measures’ associated with the label, which includes the requirement for payments to be made in rubles.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
OC Media
