Euro 2024 continues its course and the group stage advances. The different teams are seeking their place in the round of 16 of the competition held in Germany, which has brought together twenty-four teams and their corresponding fans and ultras. Among these is Georgia, a candidate country to enter the European Union and join the group of twenty-seven. But for a few weeks now, it has been very far from entering, after approving a regulation on “foreign agents” that its critics know as the “Russian law.”
Georgia is considered a country of the future for the EU. A territory that stands out for maintaining its own identity against Russia, with values of the European line. And after the collapse of the USSR, it has distanced itself from its similarities with Moscow until today, it is different from when it was a Soviet republic.
In fact, in November, Tbilisi received the Commission’s recommendation to achieve the status of candidate country for membership of the Union. In December, Georgia celebrated its status as a candidate country, approved in Brussels with the approval of Charles Michel. “Georgia’s future is with the EU, and that is something that has no alternative,” said Irakli Garibashvili, the country’s prime minister until a few months ago.
From wanting to enter the EU to having similarities with the Kremlin: Georgia, a candidate country and “close” to Russia
A dream that seemed to come true, because in 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Georgia had requested to join the group. But everything took a turn at the end of January of this year.
Garibashvili resigned, and Irakli Kobajidze would come to power. Both are from the Georgian Dream party, but the inhabitants of the Caucasian country are not very satisfied with the change. And in May, the Georgian Parliament approved the “foreign agents” law, a new rule that forces organizations and media that receive more than 20% of their income from outside the country to publicly declare themselves as entities that defend interests. external.
The regulation caused tensions in Georgian society, and its critics point out that it is similar to the legislation in force in Russia since 2012, used by the Kremlin to repress its opponents. Even Georgia’s president, Salomé Zurabishvili, has been one of the most prominent voices against the law, stating that it is a copy of Russian legislation that has been used to persecute dissidents.
The EU, forceful in the face of Georgia’s “Russian law”: “Entering the European Union and looking like Russia is not possible”
The European Union did not like it at all, stating that getting closer to the EU and looking like Russia is not possible. And after the approval of this law, the procedures for its entry into the union remained up in the air due to warnings from Brussels.
Until now, the EU has urged the Government of Georgia to continue along the democratic path to join the bloc. “We hope and ask your authorities to return to the European path and fulfill all the commitments they voluntarily assumed when they requested candidate status for their country,” said the Foreign Affairs spokesperson of the European Commission, Peter Stano, after learning of the approval of the law.
Meanwhile, the country is playing a European Championship in Germany for the first time. A competition that excluded Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, and that has in the group stage a participant with a “Russian” law that, as its authorities assure, is not “Russian” as critics claim, but ” Georgian.”
The Georgians lost their debut against Turkey, but managed to score the country’s first goal in the history of the tournament. The Caucasian nation is also playing these days to enter the final phase of the Euro Cup. But beyond football, he finds himself in a limbo between today’s Europe or Moscow that could leave him without options to enter the European Union.
2024-06-22 01:04:11
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