Parliament EU Integration Committee Chair: Georgia a leader among membership candidates
The MP also said the country was “successfully using” opportunities provided to it for the integration process, and had made a “strong choice” of joining the EU. She added the Georgia was “closer than ever” to “European standards”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia.
Tweet 
Share
Georgia is a leader in European Union integration among countries of the Black Sea region in “many directions” and is even ahead of Balkan states that have membership candidate status, Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, said on Wednesday.
Speaking in a debate format at the legislative body, Botchorishvili said Georgia had been given a “historic chance” with the EU membership application to “get where the Georgian people have aspired to be since the day of independence”.
The MP also said the country was “successfully using” opportunities provided to it for the integration process, and had made a “strong choice” of joining the EU. She added the Georgia was “closer than ever” to “European standards”.
Botchorishvili recognised the acceleration of Georgia’s integration process - displayed in the Government’s submission of an official membership application ahead of the planned 2024 date - had been caused by the Russian aggression on Ukraine. She added the EU “must make a geopolitical decision” on “where the EU border will be crossed in a decade”.
Georgia knows it belongs to Europe and Europe should now make relevant conclusions, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at a World Economic Forum panel in Davos on Wednesday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday said the country needed “clarity and adequate and relevant reaction” from the European Union regarding its European aspirations.
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.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, said on Tuesday she expected the conclusion of the European Commission on Georgia’s EU membership bid would be “positive”.
Foreign officials on Thursday sent their congratulatory messages to Georgian counterparts and citizens to mark the country’s Independence Day, with foreign ministers of Poland, Greece, Latvia, Bulgaria and Iran being among those who offered their messages of support.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, on Monday said the Government was “doing its best” for European Union member states to make the “decision that Georgia needs” on its EU membership bid.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, on Monday said the upcoming two weeks would be “very important” for the European Commission’s evaluation of Georgia’s EU membership bid.