The impeachment of President Salome Zurabashvili has not taken place in Georgia. Although 86 of the deputies who participated in the parliamentary debates supported the removal of the president, the necessary 100 votes were not collected. The president, who took part in the discussions, accused the voting deputies of being "pro-Russian" and delaying the process of integration to Europe.

It should be noted that the president who will remain in power until next year's presidential elections will have a formal character.

How will the events happening at such a sensitive time affect Georgia's EU membership? How true are the allegations?

The former minister of education and science of Georgia, head of the Caucasian Peace Institute and political scientist Gia Nodia told Ednews that the position of the "Georgian Dream" government is more anti-Western.

According to his opinion, the president's failure to adapt to the policies of the ruling party was cited as the reason for their opposition to Zurabashvili.

"In the last few years, especially since the start of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the pro-Western and pro-European policy of the Georgian Dream government has only become a formality. But in essence, their policies have almost always been clearly anti-Western in nature. Therefore, President Zurabishvili, who was generally loyal to "Georgian Dream" before that, did not follow this anti-Western policy of "Georgian Dream". So it turned into a conflict. This impeachment was a kind of symbolic punishment for Salome Zurabishvili's "Georgian Dream". It made no sense. For many, this seemed quite stupid, because the Georgian Dream knew that they did not have enough votes in the parliament and therefore could not complete this impeachment process. But they wanted to express their opinion, to say that Zurabishvili is somehow being punished for disobeying the "Georgian Dream".

The expert stressed that the ongoing processes can be a big loss on the way to European integration:

"Georgian Dream" party decided that the president really violated the Constitution. That is why they say that now he is a lame president. This does not make sense, because they ignored Zurabishvili's activities anyway. In other words, nothing has changed in reality. But, of course, this impeachment, the fact that Zurabishvili was punished for pursuing a pro-European policy, will work against Georgia's application for membership in the European Union and against its chances of getting candidate status in the coming months. Now Georgia can still get candidate status, but if it happens, it will be because the European Union will make this decision based on geopolitical reasons, not on merit, and if Georgia demonstrates any commitment to European norms and values."

Akbar Novruz