UNM Chair Tina Bokuchava Says Georgia's EU Accession Path an 'Illusion' Under Current Government
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, November 6, 2025
United National Movement (UNM) chair Tina Bokuchava said on Wednesday that Georgia's participation in the European Union accession process has become "an illusion" under what she called Bidzina Ivanishvili's "Russian regime."
Speaking at a party briefing following the publication of the EU Enlargement Report, Bokuchava said the document confirmed that Georgia currently has "no future in the EU" under the current authorities.
"Yesterday, a very important and, at the same time, very heavy report was published," Bokuchava said. "It confirmed two things. First, under Ivanishvili's Russian regime, Georgia, which earned EU candidate status through the efforts of the Georgian people, unfortunately, has no future in the EU today. Second, the government is deliberately deceiving the Georgian people, creating the illusion that Georgia remains in the accession process. This is an illusion. This is a lie."
Bokuchava said statements by European Commissioner Marta Kos and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas reflected a loss of trust in the Georgian government and described them as evidence that the regime is deliberately misleading the public.
"The truth is that the Georgian people, who are awaited in the EU's large political and security family, can restore the accession process only if we remove Ivanishvili's Russian regime. European pensions, European salaries, European education, European prosperity, European security: we can regain and achieve these only if we get rid of this regime."
The opposition leader also warned that the EU Enlargement Report could serve as the basis for the suspension of Georgia's visa-free travel with the European Union.
"As for the concrete consequence of this extremely grave report, unfortunately, the EU will use this very report to make a decision on visa-free travel," she said. "For many months, our foreign-policy team has been working to ensure that the suspension of visa-free travel does not affect ordinary Georgian citizens and that the people are not sanctioned because of the regime's autocratic actions."
Bokuchava said the party's efforts had resulted in discussions within the EU about targeting only members of the ruling elite. "The EU is now discussing the suspension of visa-free travel only for members of the regime, Ivanishvili, his entourage, the enforcers, the judges, the propagandists who lie to the Georgian people, and the business elite that finances the regime," she said.
According to Bokuchava, the EU Enlargement Report "will be the foundation for that decision. "She expressed hope that any restrictions would affect only members of the regime and never Georgian citizens."
