Georgia excluded from NATO summit partner list as critics decry isolation

Georgia's political and civil society spheres are gripped by renewed debate over why its government was once again not invited to the NATO summit in Turkey and to regional political and security events, a possible sign of Tbilisi's political isolation. Unlike previous summits, partner countries such as Qatar, the UAE, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Ukraine were invited to Ankara, while Georgia did not appear in the official summit programme or accompanying forums for the first time.

Representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed that the summit did not feature the types of meetings Georgia used to attend and rejected accusations of political isolation. MP Irakli Kirtskhalia told the press in Tbilisi that "we have no problem attending the summit, ask the organizers why we are not represented." The Foreign Ministry replied that Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili would attend a separate event in Turkey called "Allies in Ankara," part of the Munich Security Conference, which critics noted was not connected to the NATO summit.

Opposition Lelo party representative Grigol Gegelia countered that, for the first time in Georgia's history, the country is not represented at the NATO summit itself. Meanwhile, President Mikheil Kavelashvili traveled to Tehran to attend the funeral of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alongside a small number of other regional leaders.

Political analyst Paata Zakareishvili claimed that the absence of NATO's invitation represents a loss of trust by Georgia's partners. "Georgia is being ignored. There is a view that it is better not to maintain relations with it because no one knows what information Georgia might pass on to Russia. Georgia is seen as an unreliable, vulnerable, and toxic state," he said. Former Georgian ambassador to NATO Levan Dolidze stated that "Georgia is now effectively in confrontation with its former strategic partners," adding that "a foreign policy that leads to international isolation is causing significant harm to our country's national interests."

In late 2025, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze insisted that Georgia's path towards EU membership "remains steady and irreversible" and that the goal of joining the bloc by 2030 is "both realistic and attainable," despite strained relations after both parties paused EU accession talks. The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 but halted the process indefinitely last June after the passage of a "foreign influence" law described as Russian-inspired and authoritarian.

This week, Kobakhidze claimed that Georgia is ahead of all EU candidate countries in economic progress indicators. At a ceremony marking the completion of a major highway construction project, he announced that strengthening transit and connectivity systems is a key priority. Meanwhile, Georgia banned the import of a large shipment of flowers from Armenia, citing non-compliance with phytosanitary regulations, mirroring similar Russian restrictions on Armenian exports after Yerevan's pro-Western turn.