PM Garibashvili: Georgia's “European choice” has “no alternative”
Georgia's European integration choice is a decision of both the Government and citizens of the country and has “no alternative,” PM Garibashvili said at an event dedicated to celebrations of Europe Day on Monday. Photo: PM's press office.
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Georgia's European integration choice is a decision of both the Government and citizens of the country and has “no alternative,” Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at an event dedicated to celebrations of Europe Day on Monday.
In comments marking the country’s aspirations for integration, the PM highlighted the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area deal signed with the European Union in 2014.
President Zourabichvili meets PM Garibashvili at the event. Photo:PM's press office.
He also pointed to the 2017 approval of visa-free travel with the EU and the recently finalised questionnaire for the country’s formal application for Union membership.
EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell, PM Irakli Garibashvili at the event dedicated to the Europe Day. Photo: PM's press office.
The Government head also mentioned the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, noting an end to the war was "important to all of us".
This is a challenge for the security of Europe, and of course the consequences of the war will determine the coming days for the whole world, including us, for Georgia. Therefore, it is very important how the modern world will respond to this challenge. With Europe, Georgians unite on our common values; these are the values that are fundamental, and which we will never deviate from", Garibashvili said.
Europe Day commemorates the historic 1950 Schuman Declaration that laid out a vision for a peaceful postwar Europe and led to the formation of the EU.
Georgian and European Union officials on Monday marked Europe Day, commemorating the historic 1950 Schuman declaration that laid out a vision for a peaceful postwar Europe and led to the formation of the EU.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Ilia Darchiashvili on Monday congratulated the country’s European “friends and partners” on Europe Day.
Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, on Friday said people in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and the Western Balkans were looking to Europe "with hope" amid the Ukraine crisis.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday thanked state agencies and individuals who “spared no effort” in completing the second, more voluminous part of the country’s European Union membership questionnaire “in the shortest possible time”.
Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Prime Minister and Georgian Minister of Culture, on Tuesday said Georgia had “very high, reasonable and legitimate” expectations of joining the European Union if the latter showed the "necessary fairness" in its decision on the matter.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Ilia Darchiashvili on Tuesday expressed his hope the country’s progress on the path of European Union integration would be “properly” assessed by its European partners.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili handed over the second completed part of Georgia's European Union membership questionnaire, filled out by the country ahead of schedule, to Carl Hartzell, the Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia, on Tuesday.
The status of the European Union as the main trade partner of Georgia is a “most significant” result of the country's European integration process, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili told Imedi TV on Friday.
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili will travel today to Brussels to hold high-level meetings with the Secretary General of NATO, presidents of the European Council and the European Parliament, as well as other high-ranking European Union officials, the Government Administration said.
Bogdan Aurescu, Romania's Foreign Minister, on Monday said Romania was “one of the biggest supporters” of Georgia's European integration, and pointed out the country “belonged” to the European Union along with Ukraine and Moldova.
Enrico Valvo, the Italian Ambassador to Georgia, on Tuesday said the European Union membership bid of the country should be evaluated on “historical data,” in an address at a meeting of the Georgian Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, said during her visit to Germany on Thursday that German officials believed Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova faced the “same” prospects in their formal applications for joining the European Union, and said the three states should be granted integration opportunities simultaneously.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, on Tuesday said there were “forces among European Union member states” that were against a further enlargement of the bloc and therefore not in favour of Georgia’s membership prospects.
Leaders of political groups of the European Parliament on Thursday appealed to the Council of the European Union to “show courage” in its upcoming decision on the membership applications of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
Georgia will celebrate Europe Day with events over the weekend in the country’s capital Tbilisi, the Government Administration announced on Tuesday.
Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Saturday said “European leaders have decided to expand Europe” and emphasised that Georgia was “one of the potential” candidate countries.