Georgia will “immediately” apply for EU membership

Georgia asks Brussels to study this application “urgently” and grant the country the status of a candidate for accession to the union.

Georgia will “immediately” apply for membership to the European Unionsaid the ruling party of this former Soviet country in the Caucasus, which has sensitive relations with Moscow.

The announcement follows an explicit request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country is facing an armed Russian invasion accompanied by deadly bombing, to integrate Ukraine into the European Union through a special procedure.

Ukraine also requests to join the European Union

The Ukrainian president received the support of the European Parliament, which on Tuesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution condemning Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine and called on European institutions to “work towards granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate.”

The vote was widely seen in Georgia, a country that saw an armed Russian intervention in 2008 that led to the loss of two breakaway regions, as a window of opportunity for its own aspirations to integrate the European Union – a goal enshrined in its constitution. The Georgian government had last year expressed its intention to submit the country’s candidacy to join the European Union in 2024.

Georgia, like Ukraine, has signed an association agreement with the European Union, which, however, does not provide any guarantee for subsequent integration.