Mind your own business! Tbilisi mayor slams Estonian president after she says Georgia & Ukraine can't join EU for two more decades

The mayor of Tbilisi has hit out at Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, after she said in an interview that it would take at least 20 years for Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova to meet the necessary criteria for EU membership.

According to Kakha Kaladze, a former footballer who now serves as the head of Georgia’s capital city, the country’s citizens will deal with their own problems, and the Estonian head should mind her own business.

“Let everyone look after their own country,” Kaladze said on Thursday, noting his view that every nation has the opportunity to speed up its own EU integration process.

“Somehow, we will implement reforms and make our country a member of the European Union as soon as possible,” he concluded.

Kaljulaid’s comments on the potential of accession to the EU for Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia came in a Wednesday interview with the Kiev-based publication European Pravda. The Estonian president noted that “joining the EU has a lot of conditions.”

“Let’s be honest, none of these three states is ready to meet the criteria for membership. It will probably take you about 20 years before you get to this state of readiness,” she said.

Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova are members of the EU’s Eastern Partnership, which aims to build a common area of cooperation and promote democracy and stability in former Soviet republics. Azerbaijan and Armenia are also part of the same program, while Belarus’ membership has been suspended.

In the same interview, Kaljulaid also shared her advice to “not to invest in Ukraine,” noting that foreigners should “trade with Ukraine, but do not invest there” because “you may lose your investment” and be unable to recoup losses due to corruption and legal malpractice.

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