Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chair: granting EU candidate status to Associated Trio “very important geopolitical decision”

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Georgian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, on Wednesday said granting the European Union member candidate status to the Associated Trio countries of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova was not a “technical or bureaucratic” question but a “very important geopolitical decision”.

The Parliament official noted the Georgian Government was still “hopeful” that both Georgia and “our friendly countries” would be granted EU membership candidate status.

We are still hopeful that both Georgia and our friendly countries will be granted candidate status because it is not a technical decision or a bureaucratic one. Here is a very important geopolitical decision”, Samkharadze said. 

Earlier this month Samkharadze said the country had made “significant progress” on its European integration path and expressed hope the European Union would make the “correct decision” and grant it the EU member candidate status.

He stressed granting the candidate status would be an “important message” not only for the Georgian public but also for Moscow, “clearly” reminding the Kremlin that it could no longer continue its “aggressive and destructive actions” against Georgia.