On November 15–16, Brussels will host the EU Enlargement Forum, bringing together leaders from the European Union and candidate countries. Representatives of the Georgian leadership will not be among them.
According to the European Commission’s official program, speakers at the forum will include:
- President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen;
- President of the European Council António Costa;
- European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos;
- EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
Participants also include leaders of EU candidate countries:
- President of Moldova Maia Sandu;
- Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Koretsky;
- Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama;
- Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajić;
- Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski.
The forum will also be attended by ministers from EU member states, as well as representatives of European institutions, civil society, and the business community.
Representatives of the Georgian government do not appear on the list of participants published by the European Commission. Official Tbilisi did not receive an invitation to the forum—this information was confirmed to Euroscope by an informed source.
Meanwhile, according to the official agenda, former Public Defender (Ombudsperson) of Georgia and founder of the organization “Georgia’s European Orbit” Nino Lomjaria will take part in one of the panel sessions. The discussion will focus on the role of civil society and local government bodies in the EU enlargement process.
Key topics of the forum will center on the prospects for European Union enlargement, the progress of reforms in candidate countries, regional security, and economic integration.
Government representatives from three other candidate countries—Serbia, Turkey, and Bosnia and Herzegovina—are also absent from the forum’s participant list.