If the Georgian government continues on the same track, the EU door will be closed for Georgia to become a member state, HR/VP Josep Borrell said today, June 24, answering the journalists’ questions ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg.
According to Borrell, he will present to the ministers the options paper he has prepared and they will discuss short and medium term measures that the EU could take towards Georgia. However, he also said that this is going to be an “orientation debate” and no concrete decisions will be announced today.
Josep Borrell said: “We are going to discuss the situation in Georgia. One thing is clear: The door for Georgia to become a member of the European Union is open, but if the government continues doing what they are doing, this door will be closed. And the Georgian people will pay [price for the] consequences, will suffer.”
Asked what measures the ministers will discuss, the HR/VP mentioned, among some possible short-term measures, the suspension of support through the European Peace Facility, the suspension of high-level political contacts with Georgia, or the suspension of some parts of the “financial support that goes directly to the government.” He noted that the EU does not want to “put more pain” on the civilian population.
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