Vice PM: Georgia has "very high, reasonable and legitimate” expectations of joining EU

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.

If the European Union shows a necessary fairness - I say ‘if’ because granting a candidate status and especially a member status is a political process - in this case, we have very high, reasonable and legitimate expectations, as a state and the Georgian nation, to take our rightful place in Europe, which has belonged to us for centuries,” Thea Tsulukiani said.

The Vice PM was speaking on Tuesday, the date set by the Georgian Government for its handover of the second completed part of the country’s European Union membership questionnaire to the EU.

Based on the questionnaire, the European Commission will prepare an evaluation report on granting the candidate status to the country, with the relevant decision expected by the end of June.