On June 15, three organizations - "Civil Idea", "Democracy Research Institute" (DRI), and "Democracy Index - Georgia" held a conference “New Security Architecture in Europe and its impact on Georgia - one year since European Perspective”.

The conference aim was to support the dialogue and embolden discussion over the upcoming cornerstone events for Georgia - assessment from the European Union in the fall to be followed by Council’s decision on the Candidate Status and the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius.

In the course of two panels, we will try to assess the situation after exactly a year since the European Council granted Georgia European Perspective and issued conditions based on 12 point recommendation plan for further advance to the candidate status.

Since last June, rather complicated and eventful processes have taken place that we all have witnessed. There were several action plans elaborated for achieving the best results, lots of consultations and negotiations. Accordingly, several reports are produced by various groups of CSOs assessing the process and recommending further policy change. We aim to gather all those stakeholders under one roof to share their findings in an attempt to synchronize all recommendations and support the process of realizing Georgia’s European dream.

With the launch of the series of discussions, we propose to explore, analyze and discuss the essence of European integration beyond formal procedures. We must profoundly agree on the fundamental values and principles the modern, European Georgian state should be built on. Similarly to 104 years ago, when the founders of the first Georgian Republic surprised the world with their courage and faithfulness to the beliefs of liberal democracy, Georgian elites of today need to find strength and devotion to principles of freedom, democracy, justice, solidarity, equality, human rights, and human dignity.

However, before we get to the fall’23, there is a NATO Vilnius summit at the doorsteps. Different from the EU-related debates, there is not much information available or any public dialogue related to the Vilnius summit. What is it to expect? What is it Georgian government tries to achieve? Where do we stand on the road to NATO membership? These are all legitimate questions and we should have a frank dialogue with both government and our international allies.

On the 30^th of May, 2022, we gathered all the stakeholders and discussed the new security architecture of Europe and its implications for Georgia. We also discussed how the Russian war against Ukraine brought the nearly entire civilized world together and paved the way for entirely new security narratives, opportunities, and visions for cooperation and integration. This year, we want to assess the state of affairs in Georgia and, more significantly, determine whether the reforms that have been made are enough to qualify Georgia for the candidate status and how will these hectic events happening in the modern world shape Georgia’s future?