The ruling Georgian Dream government has continued to frustrate wishes of Georgian society for integration with western bodies such as the EU and NATO, supporting a law that could directly challenge western integration. The Georgian public did not react to this subtly.

Once a darling of Washington, Georgia again finds itself between a rock and a hard place.

Georgia’s ruling party hesitates to implement crucial reforms while the country’s citizens and EU impatience grows.

In 2008, NATO did not grant Ukraine and Georgia a Membership Action Plan. It was mainly the result of Vladimir Putin’s personal persuasion at the NATO Summit in Bucharest which took place that year. The Kremlin considered it as a weakness of the West and attacked Georgia the same year. Is the European Union now capable of taking a bolder decision with regards to countries aspiring to join its structures?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine drastically changed the security environment in Europe. While the EU, US, China, Turkey and other actors are quickly adapting to the rapidly changing security environment, Georgia seems to be looking at the recent developments from the side lines.

In an op-ed for New Eastern Europe, Pierre-Alexandre Crevaux, from the Georgian President’s office, writes that President Salome Zourabichvili’s visit to Brussels on January 21st was to send a message: pandemic or not, Georgia’s path to EU integration is unaltered.

Responding to outside criticism, Georgian Dream has blamed the opposition adding to the tension ahead of October's parliamentary election.

The Eastern Partnership can boast a list of accomplishments for Georgia and Georgian society. Yet, it seems clear that the Eastern Partnership was never really considered as a path of membership to the European Union. Georgia’s government and civil society now need to focus on what the next steps in European integration should be.

“Georgia has one of the highest EU support in the world,” said EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell in interview for Georgian TV Formula’s “Droeba” programme. The ambassador added that: “About 250 million euros have been allocated for Georgia in the form of grants. These are new grants and new funding. If we talk about rough numbers, the European Union will allocate about 1.5 billion Georgian lari [nearly 415,000 euros] for Georgia”. It has been eleven years since the Eastern Partnership Programme, suggested by Poland and Sweden, was launched. Georgia, as one of the beneficiaries and one of the leaders of the Eastern Partnership programme, showcases more ambition and put great effort towards its European integration. Today, the Eastern Partnership faces new challenges: What will its future be and what will be the new steps in the process of EU integration for these countries? Any decision regarding future challenges remain very important for Georgia.