Georgia is a sovereign country, and it is up to Georgia to decide whether it wants to follow the path of European integration. Such a comment made the Ambassador of the European Union in Georgia, while talking about yesterday’s statement of the Prime Minister.

I think today we all woke up to a completely new reality. We heard Mr. [Irakli] Kobakhidze’s statement that Georgia is not interested in EU integration in the next 4 years. Of course, this is extremely sad.

It’s really heartbreaking for me personally. I remember 2 years ago, when I was visiting Georgia, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, publicly stated: “Georgia belongs to the EU, the EU will not be complete without Georgia”. This has been the guide for our work here, my work here as EU Ambassador for 2 years. I was proud that the EU opened its doors to Georgia, we granted Georgia the status of a candidate country for the EU, and what happened yesterday clearly contradicts the policy of the previous government of Georgia, the policy of all the previous governments of Georgia, it also contradicts the wishes of the vast majority of the population of Georgia. But, of course, Georgia is an independent country, a sovereign country, and it is up to Georgia to decide whether it wants to follow the path of European integration, in my opinion, it is very sad and heartbreaking”, - said Paweł Herczyński.