European Perspective of Georgia: A Comparative Analysis of Compliance with the Copenhagen Criteria in the Case of Georgia and Albania

Abstract

The increasing importance of the 29-years-old relations between Georgia and the EU, the relevance of the issue and the delayedmembership have become the key reasons for the research topic.It should be noted that joining the EU is not an easy process and contains a number of bureaucratic elements. Therefore, the paperanalyzes Georgia’s economic and political willingness to comply with the Copenhagen criteria for future integration into the EU. It also compares thepace of development and the situation in Georgia and in Albania, which has the status of “official candidate” of the EU. It is interesting to see whatchanges and reforms (different from Georgia) are being implemented by Albania, which brings it even closer to the EU. The main research questionalso serves to determine Georgia’s European perspective based on an objective analysis of 2018-2021 years data and processes and to explain themain reasons that hinder Georgia’s integration (unlike Albania) with the EU.