EU flags and the bloc’s anthem were waved by lawmakers in both the Moldovan and Georgian parliaments as they opened their sessions on Friday. This came after the surprise news on Thursday that Georgia would be able to join the EU along with Ukraine and Moldova. Even though Hungary was strongly against it and Russia has troops in Transnistria, Moldova, and parts of Ukraine and Georgia already, the news was made.
Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, was filled with thousands of people celebrating. In Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, on Sunday, President Maia Sandu invited people to a pro-European event to mark what she called a “historic step for the destiny of our country.”
Prime Minister Dorin Recean of Moldova, who supports the West, agreed with Sandu and said, “Moldova is European” and “our future is in the EU.” The president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, said soon after the meeting of EU leaders, “Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova show what it means to fight for freedom, to fight for Europe, and to stay true to the values we share with Europe.”
Director of the Regional Institute of Security Studies in Tbilisi, Georgia, Natia Seskuria said that the EU has sent “a very important message to Russia” by starting membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and giving Georgia candidate status.
He said that the move “has a lot of symbolism” because if the countries had been turned down, “it would have been another sign for Russia that they can pretty much do whatever they want.” The process of becoming full members could take decades.
To get out from under the shadow of Moscow, both Moldova and Georgia were part of the Soviet Union for many years. In response to the news on Friday, the Kremlin was angry.
There was a lot of politics behind the move, according to Dmitry Peskov, a spokeswoman for the Kremlin. He said that the bloc wanted to “annoy Russia even more and make these countries dislike Russia.”
It could take “years and decades” to talk about joining the EU, Peskov said, adding that “such new members could destabilize the EU.”
Moldavia has been through a lot since Russia invaded Ukraine. There has been a serious lack of energy after Moscow cut gas supplies by a lot last winter, inflation that is through the roof, and protests against the government by a party that supports Russia.
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President Maia Sandu of Moldova also said in February that Moscow was planning to overthrow the government to “put the country at Russia’s disposal” and stop it from becoming a member of the EU. The claims were denied by Russia.
For the same reason, fighting in nearby Ukraine has sent rocket-propelled objects into Moldova more than once. As a result of a series of explosions in Transnistria, a separatist area of Moldova backed by Russia and home to about 1,500 Russian troops, tensions rose across the country in April of last year.
After a short war in 2008, Russia also has troops in Georgia. Georgia lost control of two separatist areas that were friendly with Russia due to the war. The Georgian government strongly condemned the killing of a civilian by Russian troops in South Ossetia in November. South Ossetia is one of the breakaway areas.
According to Seskuria from the Regional Institute of Security Studies, Georgians have wanted to join the EU for numerous generations. According to Seskuria, there’s still a “long way ahead” and Georgia needs to make the kind of progress the EU wants to meet strict membership requirements. This is the country’s “biggest success” so far on its way to joining the EU.
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In all three countries, this is true. They all need to fight graft and organized crime and make the rule of law stronger. As for Georgia, its president, Salome Zourabichvili, has long been a strong supporter of joining the EU. This puts her at odds with the ruling Georgian Dream party, which the opposition sees as pro-Russian.
Georgia’s city, Tbilisi, held a pro-EU rally on December 9. Zourabichvili also spoke out against a bill to register foreign agents. Earlier this year, protesters in Tbilisi said the bill was based on a law used in Russia to silence people who spoke out against the Kremlin.
Conservatives say that Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party’s founder and previous prime minister who became a billionaire in Russia, is still in charge of the 3.7 million-person former Soviet republic even though he doesn’t work for the government anymore.