PM: Georgia ahead of Eastern Partnership states in EU Association Agreement implementation

The Government’s formal application for Georgia to join the EU - submitted earlier this year - has been called “a very important, historic and mature decision” by the PM, who added the application had been brought forward from the initial 2024 date “given the existing reality”.Photo: government's Administration.
 

Agenda.ge, 21 May 2022 - 21:16, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgia has made the most progress among Eastern Partnership states in implementing the Association Agreement signed with the European Union, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told reporters in the central Georgian city of Gori on Saturday.

Speaking during his weekend tour of regions to inspect ongoing infrastructure projects, Garibashvili said the country had made “greatest progress on the path of European Union integration” since the election of Georgian Dream as the ruling party, highlighting the 2014-signed Association Agreement with the EU.

Garibashvili also said Georgi was ahead of both Eastern Partnership states and the other two countries of the Associated Trio - Ukraine and Moldova - “in all directions and parameters” of implementing the Agreement. He highlighted the visa-free travel - signed with the EU in 2017 - and the free trade deal, also inked with the Union, as examples of the integration progress.

The Government’s formal application for Georgia to join the EU - submitted earlier this year - has been called “a very important, historic and mature decision” by the PM, who added the application had been brought forward from the initial 2024 date “given the existing reality”.

The head of the Government stressed citizens of the country needed “strategic patience,” as EU membership “does not happen in one or two days” and “might take years”. Garibashvili also pointed out strengthening Georgia’s economy and industries and “preparing our country for membership” as the principal challenge in the process.

Garibashvili also accused the Georgian political opposition of “anti-state hostility,” saying both he and “European colleagues” were “surprised” by “misinformation” from representatives of opposition parties as  the Government was “working hard” to achieve gains like visa-free travel with the EU.