TBILISI, July 30. /TASS/. Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said that he doesn’t rule out that talks on his country’s accession to the European Union may kick off this year.

"I don’t rule out that talks (on the accession to the EU - TASS) will be opened this year. However, the probability is not very high as long as the war (the conflict in Ukraine - TASS) continues. But even in these conditions it may happen this year," he said in an interview with the Imedi television channel.

He repeated that everything depends on the conflict in Ukraine. The sooner hostilities in Ukraine are ended the quicker Georgia will be moving along the path of European integration.

On November 8, 2023, the European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, recommended that the EU Council start accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Ukraine, and grant candidate status to Georgia. According to the annual report on EU enlargement, the European Commission recommends this be done if nine conditions concerning reforms in various spheres are met.

After Georgia’s parliament passed the controversial foreign agent law in May, which was met negatively by the country’s international partners, including the European Union, the European agenda in that country became vague.