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“European state” is still decided by particular international initiatives
(the stabilization and association process for the Western Balkans) and
multilateral formats (such as membership to the Council of Europe),
etc. For instance, Turkey may not fall entirely within the “European
states” category, given its history and geography. However, it has been
an EU candidate since 1999 and an EU accession country since 2005.
No one will ever doubt whether the UK, which left the Union in 2020,
is a “European state” as the Council of Europe member UK has an
unquestionably European history. The Council of Europe membership
seems the fairest factor and a legal tool for recognizing a “European
state.” The organization itself specifies that it has been created for
protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe.
The EU-Georgia Association Agreement came into force in 2016.
Since March 28, 2018, citizens of Georgia travel visa-free in Schengen
zone states. The Eastern Partnership Initiative opened a truly
unprecedented window of opportunities to those states which have
firmly chosen the European path of their development. Citizens of
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova travel visa-free to European states while
free trade made the Union the main trade partner for the associated
states. Further, Georgian, Ukrainian and Moldovan students participate
in large-scale EU educational projects and the EU makes significant
financial contributions to extensive energy and transport projects for
Eastern Europe, etc.

Limitations of the Eastern Partnership Initiative

Indisputably, the EaP brings the associated states closer to the
European Union and facilitates their integration into the EU market and
European systems of transport, energy and infrastructure.
It would be fair to admit that the EaP and, consequently, the
association agreements have such limitations which, to a certain extent,
contradict the EU membership ambitions of the associated countries.