When it comes to defense and security cooperation between Georgia and the European Union, unfortunately, we have to inform you that the leaders have also decided to freeze the money that we pay to support the Georgian Defense Forces, named the “European Peace Fund,” – the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, told journalists in Tbilisi, where a two-day international conference entitled “Enlargement of the European Union – geopolitical need and further steps for the candidate countries of the European Union” is taking place.
“The money that we planned to transfer to the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, which amounts to 30 million euros, has been frozen. This is only the first step; there will be other steps. Our direct support to the Government of Georgia will be limited, and we will try to direct support to civil society and the media. This was announced after the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. Our direct support to the Government of Georgia will gradually decrease and focus on civil society and the media.
“I am very, very sorry to inform you that the first casualty of this policy will be our support to the Ministry of Defense, and unfortunately, the 30 million euros that we planned to provide to support the defense of Georgia has been suspended. As you know, our support to the Government of Georgia is 10 times more than our support to civil society- we have been financing the Government of Georgia for many years. Almost half of our EU support is direct budget support to the Georgian government. A decision has been made to gradually reduce this direct support, change its direction, and increase support for civil and media organizations, which, as we know, are under great pressure in Georgia at the moment due to the law on “transparency”,” the Ambassador noted.
