On Dec. 2, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini told Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili that EU visa liberalization for Georgian citizens would be postponed until 2017. Just days earlier, EU Council President Donald Tusk had said to Kvirikashvili that he believed Georgia should be offered a visa waiver soon. Although expected, the delay is disappointing for Georgia. High inflation and currency devaluation pose serious problems for the government, which only recently won a constitutional majority in parliamentary elections. And many lawmakers fear that the longer the liberalization is delayed, the less likely it is to actually happen.

The fears are not unwarranted. As Brexit clearly demonstrates, European countries are becoming increasingly isolationist and the European Union is progressively weakening. As time passes, it becomes less likely that Brussels will grant visa liberalization to Georgia and to other candidates, including Ukraine. In Georgia, the government fears the setback to EU integration may boost the anti-Europe, pro-Russia sentiment already present in the country. The relatively pro-Russia Alliance of Patriots party recently won six places in parliament. And, perhaps partly to constrain the rise of more radical parties and partly just out of pragmatism, even the ruling coalition has been softening its tough stance on the pro-Russia breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Though there is little chance that Georgia will turn definitively toward Russia anytime soon, as it loses hope of EU integration it may become more willing to work in limited ways with Moscow.