First deputy PM: Georgia's EU accession 'moves in a very active way'

Euronews

22-05-2025

Georgia's government remains committed to European Union accession and believes the 'process goes in a very active way,' First Deputy Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili said.
Speaking to Euronews on the sidelines of the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Wednesday, Davitashvili, who also serves as minister of economy and sustainable development, said there had been no shift in official government policy and Tbilisi had already fulfilled 60% of the accession requirements.
"We have clearly declared that our target is full-fledged membership by 2030. We understand it's a long process, but we are fully focused to implement this significant reform, and we are still loyal to this reform, and this process goes in a very active way," he said.
Davitashvili's comments echo those of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who told Euronews in February that his government still considers membership by 2030 achievable.
Kobakhidze said Georgia faced "some significant challenges with the European bureaucracy" but emphasised that he was still "very optimistic" that his country would ultimately join the bloc.
"It's because of the European bureaucracy and the policies towards Georgia," he said. "So, if that policy changes, everything will be in a better shape."
In November, Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would pause discussions on its bid to join the EU until 2028 due to what the prime minister described then as "blackmail and manipulation" from some of the bloc's politicians.
That decision sparked widespread protests across the country from thousands of Georgians who see the future of the country integrated into Europe.
Kobakhidze was reappointed as prime minister in November by the ruling Georgian Dream party, whose disputed victory in October's parliamentary election also sparked mass demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.
Protesters accuse Georgian Dream of leaning towards Moscow.
Opposition forces — including Georgia's former president Salome Zourabichvili —condemned the results as a "total falsification" of the vote.
The European Parliament also adopted a resolution condemning the vote and calling for new elections to be held under international supervision.
The ruling party, which has been in power since 2012, denied any wrongdoing.
But recently, relations between Georgia and the EU seem to have thawed, particularly after Kobakhidze's appearance at the European Political Community summit in Albania last week.
A short but warm encounter between the Georgian premier and French President Emmanuel Macron during the summit signalled that Georgia and the EU are turning the page on their past differences.
Kobakhidze underlined this moment by telling journalists that "there was a period of limited communication (between Georgia and the EU) and it seems our European partners were eager to restore ties with Georgia."
The Georgian prime minister explained the thaw by his country's "vital role for Europe" adding that "everyone understands the need to engage with Georgia and its leadership, and this is likely why many initiatives have come from European leaders."
"Over the years, we have made significant contributions to strengthening peace and stability in the region, and we remain committed to acting in this spirit moving forward," Kobakhidze told Georgian journalists in Albania.
"We are connecting two neighbouring countries—Azerbaijan and Armenia—with Europe. Moreover, Georgia is undertaking several important projects with its neighbours that significantly improve connectivity," Kobakhidze said.
"I believe this is of utmost importance not only for Georgia but also for Europe and the European Union, as it helps forge stronger links between the EU and our region," the Georgian prime minister concluded.
Hundreds of sea mines have been threatening traffic in the Black Sea since the early days of the war in Ukraine. The waters of NATO member states like Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey are unsafe and must be permanently monitored by NATO.
The risk of stray mines represents considerable economic losses for the countries bordering the western and eastern shores of the Black Sea and can lead to higher insurance policies, more complicated routes and damage to tourism.
Demining is therefore a crucial activity for the security and the economies of NATO's and the EU's eastern flank.
The use of mines is part of the Russian attempt to approach Odessa and the Ukrainian attempt to defend the city from any landing craft. So both sides make use of such mines for offensive and defensive reasons.
The war in Ukraine marked a turning point in the militarisation of drones and unmanned vehicles in the skies, on land and in the seas.
In the Black Sea, for example, which is a so-called semi-enclosed-sea, drones have played a lethal role by forcing Russian naval ships to leave Sevastopol and find shelter in the port of Novorossiysk, in the eastern Black Sea, far away from the range of the Ukrainian sea drones and naval missiles.
Drones have also proved to be of great use to navies of countries not directly involved in the fighting.
For example, the Romanian navy has for some time now started regular mine clearance operations with submarine drones imported from the UK.
A TV crew from Euronews Romania boarded a minesweeper equipped with the submarine drone, Sea Fox, to cover the demining operations.
The Sea Fox underwater drones on the minehunter "Ion Ghiculescu", have already been successfully tested in the deep.
The unmanned remote-controlled submarine vehicle can destroy sea mines remotely without endangering crews.
Denis Giubernea Commander of the Minehunter, explains how the Sea Fox drone works.
"It's remote-controlled. It has a cable, a 1,500-meter fibre optic, and it's guided through the water. So, it's permanently tethered to the ship. After the object is identified as a mine this drone returns home and after that action, we use another neutralizing drone that we send in the vicinity of the object that we have already identified as a mine. And on contact this drone, which already has explosives on board, self-destructs," he said.
150 sea mines have been discovered floating adrift in the Black Sea since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, six of them in Romanian territorial waters. And they represent a constant danger.
"Ukraine has carried out defensive mines and the Russian Federation has carried out offensive mines. We cannot know their exact number but there may be mines that may drift and therefore the risk is getting higher and higher," says Denis Giubernea.
According to military experts, the role of drones in marine warfare is of great tactical relevance. The unmanned maritime vehicles have proved essential in the mines hunting.
The Sea Fox type still has to be controlled using an optical tether, which requires the minehunter vessel to be relatively close to the theatre of operations.
Sidharth Kaushal, Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) told Euronews, "If a system is fully autonomous, the vessel controlling it can operate from further back, which allows for it to be safe against threats live, cruise missiles or, indeed, uncrewed surface vessels, which can be used to target mine countermeasures vessels."
According to Kaushal, identifying the classification of a mine is a time-consuming task that involves a combination of different levels of detection and human analysis.
Moreover, the use of artificial intelligence in demining has fewer ethical implications than other areas of military operations where final human judgement is required.
"Mine hunting is an uncontroversial area to deploy fully automated systems, unlike situations which involve killing. The disposal of mines is a less politically controversial area" he added.