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The Eastern Partnership programme, launched in 2009, is meant to bring Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine closer to the bloc without making a clear offer of future membership. Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine have since inked association agreements with the EU, including free-trade deals, but some member states have been reluctant to openly discuss the issue of these countries' eventual EU membership.
Moscow has relayed strong misgivings about the programme. It contends that closer economic ties between the EU and its main trading partners could harm Russian interests.
The document being discussed reportedly still lists several conclusions in brackets—meaning that unanimity has not yet been reached on the language.
Officials told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that France, backed by some southern EU member states, has insisted on putting in brackets the phrase that states that "the Council acknowledges the European aspirations and European choice of the Eastern Partners concerned, as stated in the association agreements."
However, the officials said they expected that France would eventually back down since the phrase has for several years been the EU standard for acknowledging that Eastern Partnership countries such as Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine can join the bloc in the future.
In a paragraph describing the need to enhance the capacity of the eastern partners to counter hybrid threats and malicious cyberactivities, some countries have also pushed to add "while recalling the non-confrontational approach of the Eastern Partnership," which currently is in brackets.
However, the Council members are reported to appear to be in full agreement when it comes to the possibility of suspending visa liberalisation. While no suspension is thought imminent, the document says member countries "note that the high number of unfounded asylum applications by some Eastern partner countries nationals in the EU member states raises concern.” Both Germany and Sweden have previously objected that Georgian criminal gangs have used visa liberalisation to carry out burglaries in their countries.
The European Parliament, meanwhile, is debating a draft report on the future of the Eastern Partnership. The nonbinding draft states more ambitious goals than the Council text. It proposes a common economic space between the EU and the Eastern Partnership along with the gradual integration of its six countries into the EU's energy union, transport community and digital single market.
2.6​ ​Georgian opposition leader sentenced to five years prison for role in June 2019 Tbilisi protests
Tbilisi City Court on April 13 sentenced former defence minister of Georgia Irakli Okruashvili to five years in prison for engaging in mass violence during the unrest seen in the capital on the night of 20-21 June last year, Civil.ge reported.
10​ GEORGIA Country Report ​May 2020 ​​www.intellinews.com