On November 9-10, Salome Zourabichvili, the President of Georgia, gave interviews to the French media outlets France24 and Radio FranceInfo.

According to Zourabichvili, because the European Council is undoubtedly considering the geopolitical and strategic dimensions due to strategic circumstances, the new candidature requirements, like the prior suggestions, are not as stringent as initially thought. She said that Moscow would have welcomed less than full assistance from the European Commission. She cited NATO's inaction over Ukraine and Georgia at the 2008 Bucharest Summit, which she said gave the green light to Russia to invade. The president noted, "Russia has not been given the green light, and this is very, very important," arguing that the European Commission had chosen a wiser choice.

When asked why the Commission supported Georgia even though it only met three of the twelve requirements for candidature, President Zourabichvili responded that the reason was not favoritism but rather Brussels' awareness of Georgia's long-term progress as well as geopolitical considerations. She contended that in the absence of a candidature, Georgia would stay behind the red line, in the grey zone, which would be extremely risky for the stability of the Black Sea and the region, and as a gesture of support for Russia. "The Georgian people feel that they deserve to join Europe because of their past, their values, and their thirty-year journey," Zourabichvili emphasized.

Regarding the ruling party attempting to remove Zourabichvili from office in October, she stated, "Governments change, [but] people remain. We could see the most stable and calm evolution, which will lead us to a coalition government. We will have democratic elections that will allow us to form a new coalition, in which case we will fulfill all the conditions for opening accession negotiations." President Zourabichvili underlined her optimism that Europe will support Georgia going forward, even if there were strings attached to the EU Council's final candidature decision, anticipated in December.

When asked about the pro-Russian position of the Georgian government regarding Ukraine, President Zourabichvili responded, stating, "My position is no different from that of the government in some areas and that because of the strategic situation, [as] we have two occupied territories, there are things we cannot allow ourselves." She was specifically referring to military aid to Kyiv. She said, "But the [Georgian] people and I are much more open in expressing our solidarity with Ukraine in comparison to what the administration does."