Tbilisi Rejects Ambassador-Level Invitation to EU Meeting in Luxembourg
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Georgia's Foreign Ministry has announced that the country will not take part in an upcoming EU ministerial meeting in Luxembourg at the ambassadorial level, calling the invitation "unacceptable."
In a statement released on September 23, the ministry said that the decision by the European External Action Service (EEAS) to invite Georgia below the ministerial level raised questions. "Given the importance of the issue and Georgia's role in connectivity matters, inviting Georgia at the ambassadorial level to the ministers' meeting is unacceptable, and the basis and reason for such an approach are unclear," the statement read.
The ministry argued that the move reflects "a non-serious attitude" and accused the EU body of attempting to use Georgia's participation "for political speculation and to encourage a radical agenda and polarization in Georgia."
The October 20 meeting in Luxembourg is set to bring together foreign ministers from Central Asia and the EU's Eastern Partnership countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
According to the ministry, Georgian officials had already made their position clear to the EEAS weeks earlier, stressing that Georgia should be represented at a ministerial level in discussions on regional security and connectivity. The statement also accused the EEAS of ignoring "geopolitical realities" and underestimating Georgia's role as a bridge between Europe and Asia.
"We hope that the majority of EU member states fully recognize the geopolitical necessities, value partnership with Georgia and its role in connectivity between Europe and Asia, and do not share the European External Action Service's attitude regarding Georgia's participation," the ministry added.
Salome Samadashvili, one of the leaders of Strong Georgia-Lelo, has said that Georgia's exclusion from an upcoming EU foreign ministers' meeting demonstrates that the country's government is not viewed as a legitimate partner by Brussels.
"Georgia is the only candidate country told that its de facto Foreign Minister has no place alongside the foreign ministers of European countries," Samadashvili wrote on social media after reports confirmed that Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili was not invited to the October 20 session in Luxembourg.
According to Samadashvili, the decision highlights how the ruling party is perceived abroad. "The non-invitation of Botchorishvili to the foreign ministers' meeting is the clearest indication that this government lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the EU, that Ivanishvili's regime is not seen as representing the real interests of the Georgian people, nor as democratically elected, nor as a partner," she said.
Reflecting on her own experience during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, Samadashvili recalled being invited, along with then-Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili, to hold side meetings with EU counterparts during an extraordinary council session. "I remember vividly how acutely I felt the powerlessness of being in a situation where you don't belong to the club of secure, wealthy, successful countries, sitting in a side room in the role of a 'poor relative' while your fate is being discussed. I knew we had to do everything to secure our place in the European Council's meeting room. Years have passed, and now we're not even invited to the waiting room," she wrote.
Samadashvili noted that since 2009, Georgia had periodically been invited to EU foreign ministers' meetings under the Eastern Partnership framework, and said such participation should be even more relevant now that the country holds candidate status. Instead, she argued, Georgia, under the current authorities, has been sidelined.
