Georgia’s membership impossible due to difficult situation in EU - minister

Poland supports Georgia's membership in the European Union, but this is not possible at the moment, said Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who is currently on visit in Tbilisi.

"Due to the difficult situation in the European Union at the moment, it is impossible for the time being, but, as the saying goes, we keep our fingers crossed and are waiting for Georgia to become a member of the European Union ... In Brussels, we are waiting for the Eastern Partnership summit, and we want all the leaders of the European Union to take part in it at the highest political level. We believe that this tool needs a lot of attention. As part of the summit, we will adopt new declarations, new communiqués and hope that they will satisfy Georgia and you will come to like it. We will give you prospects for an even closer rapprochement with the European Union", the Polish foreign minister said at a press conference in Tbilisi.

Together with the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallström is in Tbilisi. According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, the ministers arrived in the country on the eve of the upcoming November 25 summit in Brussels of the member countries of the EU's Eastern Partnership program. During the visit, foreign ministers are scheduled to meet with the leadership of the country, as well as with representatives of the Georgian civil society.

The Swedish foreign minister noted in her speech that her visit once again demonstrates Sweden's support for "Georgia's democratic reforms".

"I am here with my Polish colleague to express my firm support to all the reforms launched in Georgia that are aimed at strengthening democracy and fighting corruption in the region. I want to say that Sweden will continue to support Georgia firmly in the path of integration into the European Union", said Wahlström.

Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze in turn noted the importance of the visit of his colleagues from Poland and Sweden, pointing out that these countries are initiators of the Eastern Partnership project.

"Today, Georgia is a country associated with the European Union, as a result of initiatives developed within the framework of this partnership and as a result of our reforms. Georgia today is integrated with the internal market of the European Union in accordance with the agreement on free and comprehensive trade, after the implementation of this agreement the European Union became Georgia's trade partner ... Georgia meets the summit in a very good shape and it is not our assessment, it is the assessment of the European Union. Georgia has made serious progress in terms of all European reforms. This is exactly what our country needs, this is what every citizen needs. This is what makes our state, our government institutions stronger and, of course, brings us closer to our ultimate goal of becoming a full-fledged member of the European Union and a member of the European family", Janelidze said.

EADaily reported earlier that the EU's Eastern Partnership program, which envisages political association and economic rapprochement with the European Union of six post-Soviet countries - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus - has been launched in the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy since 2009. Since 2010, the Council of Foreign Ministers of 27 EU countries has given the European Commission a mandate to start negotiations on concluding bilateral agreements on association with the EU. In June 2014, Georgia and the EU signed an association agreement, an integral part of which was an agreement on an in-depth and comprehensive free trade zone. Similar agreements were also signed by Ukraine and Moldova in 2014. On May 28, 2017, the European Union canceled visas for short-term visits of Georgian citizens to the EU countries and the Schengen area.