Less than 24 hours after obtaining candidate status for the European Union, an alliance that this small Caucasian country sees as protection against its Russian neighbor, jubilation took over the streets.
Tens of thousands of people gathered this Friday, December 15 in the streets of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, to celebrate obtaining candidate status for the European Union, an alliance that this small Caucasian country sees as a protection against the Russian neighbor.
The country’s pro-Western president, Salomé Zourabichvili, immediately welcomed this decision as a “huge step” crossing, and assured that “the unwavering will of the Georgian people” had expressed herself.
Last June, the European Union only granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova and asked Tbilisi for judicial and electoral reforms, more freedom for the press and less power for the oligarchs. Membership in the European Union is supported, according to polls, by 80% of its population.