In an unprecedented move, Georgia has declined EU aid conditioned on judicial reform and the April 19 EU-brokered deal, PM Irakli Garibashvili said in an surprising statement today.
Although PM Garibashvili cited the Government’s attempt to reduce foreign debt, the statement is widely viewed as an overtly confrontational step unheard of in Georgian-EU relations.
In a later statement, the EU delegation in Tbilisi said that “Georgia failed to sufficiently address the condition for this macro-financial assistance and notably, to increase independence, accountability and the quality of the judicial system.”
The EU and the European Council President Charles Michel in particular had earlier issued warning the micro financial aid would not be processed unless the judicial part of the April 19 deal would be implemented.
Key Georgian NGOs issued a joint statement blasting the decision. “Refusal of EU Assistance is an Open Declaration of Georgia's Deviation from the Euro-Atlantic Course,” the NGOs said.
Ian Kelly, former US Ambassador to Georgia lambasted the decision as “part of a strategy to move Georgia away from necessary Western-oriented reforms.”
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