Ruling party head: Gov’t to make “every effort” to get EU candidate country status
Kobakhidze underlined the Georgian Government had done “everything” within its power for gaining the status, including its completion of the 5,000-page EU membership questionnaire. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said the Government would make “every effort” to receive the status of an European Union candidate country, pointing out the “final political decision” on the matter was for the EU to make.
Kobakhidze underlined the Georgian Government had done “everything” within its power for gaining the status, including its completion of the 5,000-page EU membership questionnaire.
We will make every effort to achieve the result, which is getting the status of an European Union candidate country. We are doing everything we can, and the final political decision is for the European Union to make,” the GD official told the Georgian Public Broadcasting.
Kobakhidze noted the fact that Georgia’s Prime Minister had personally visited Brussels to hold high-level meetings with EU officials showed European integration was a “special priority” issue for the Government.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Irakli Garibashvili held meetings with officials in Brussels for discussions around the EU membership questionnaire Georgia had submitted on May 10, when Garibashvili handed over the second completed part of the questionnaire, filled out by the country ahead of schedule, to Carl Hartzell, the Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia.
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.
The significance of Georgia’s European Union membership application and future measures in the process were in focus of a meeting between Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, on Wednesday.
Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, on Wednesday said the European Commission had begun preparations of producing its conclusion on the EU membership questionnaire it had received from the Georgian Government.
Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspiration as a top priority of the country's foreign and security policy was discussed on Wednesday during a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the Government would “do its best” to protect the principle of the rule of law, which he called “one of the main European values”.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee and Levan Karumidze, the First Deputy Chair of the body, on Friday discussed the country’s bid for EU membership and progress in European integration with German officials in Berlin.
European and Euro-Atlantic integration process, bilateral relations and security matters were discussed on Friday in a meeting between the Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and his Macedonian counterpart Bujar Osmani.
The Georgian opposition think they are working against the Government, but in reality they are acting against the country itself, Nikoloz Samkharadze, the ruling Georgian Dream party MP who chairs the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Friday in an interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday called on the “radical opposition” in the country to “stop campaigning against” Georgia being granted the European Union candidate status.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the European Union had "no reason to reject" Georgia's application for membership, "especially" if it granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.
President Salome Zourabichvili’s briefing on Tuesday was “directed against” Georgia receiving the European Union membership candidate status, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Wednesday.
The ruling Georgian Dream party will offer the parliamentary opposition an “inclusive procedure” for selection of candidates for the position of the Georgian Public Defender before September 1, party Head Irakli Kobakhidze said on Friday.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said that a working group would be created with the Parliament’s Legal Issues Committee to work on a bill intended to address the European Council’s requirement for the country to curb “excessive influence of vested interests in economic, political, and public life”.
A delegation of the ruling Georgian Dream party chaired by head Irakli Kobakhidze is expected to raise topics related to the country’s European integration process, including the implementation of the European Union’s conditions for Georgia’s membership candidate status, at the Party of European Socialists congress in Berlin between Friday and Saturday.
Germany's role and support for Georgia's EU integration process, and a deepening of mutual cooperation were discussed on Friday in a meeting between Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and Lars Klingbeil, the co-leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.