‘Everything is on the table’: EU to discuss new measures against Georgia in January, Kallas says

The European Union will hold a deep dive in January on new measures against Georgia and that's stopping Tbilisi from further democratic backsliding, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday. The Georgian government right now is on a collision course with the European Union regarding the democratic backsliding. That's very, very clear. I mean, the steps that have been taken are not going to the right direction. The European Commission published its annual progress reports on candidate countries. For Georgia, they point to further democratic backsliding with new restrictions on civic space and a deterioration of fundamental rights. Kallas said it was too early to tell whether she would propose new sanctions on the Georgian government. For us it is most important how do we make the response so that we clearly indicate that we are supporting the Georgian people and their aspirations and are not turning away from the Georgian people, but at the same time giving clear messages to the government that we are not supporting these kind of policies. In 2024, the EU proposed sanctioning officials responsible for violently repressing peaceful protests, but Hungary and Slovakia blocked the measures. Brussels did, however, suspend visa-free travel for holders of Georgian diplomatic passports.