Parliament Speaker: if EU decision is based on “facts and merits”, Georgia “truly” deserves membership candidate status
Papuashvili said “Europe itself” was “at a crossroads” in the given moment and needed to send a “clear signal” to Russia by granting the EU member candidate status to the Associated Trio countries of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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If the European Union makes a decision on Georgia’s membership bid based on “facts and merits”, the country “truly” deserves the candidate status, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili said on Wednesday in an interview with Imedi TV.
Papuashvili said “Europe itself” was “at a crossroads” in the given moment and needed to send a “clear signal” to Russia by granting the EU member candidate status to the Associated Trio countries of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
Now Europe itself is at a crossroads. Now Europe must show solidarity with our people and send a clear signal to Russia, as it is important that Brussels 2022 does not become Bucharest 2008 [NATO Summit that rejected Membership Action Plan for Georgia and Ukraine]”, the Speaker of the Georgian legislative body said.
He also noted Georgia was a “leader” among the Associated Trio countries in terms of its implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU, pointing to the current 45 percent fulfilment of the 2014-signed agreement by the Government.
[G]eorgia is even ahead of [some] EU member states, for example in the fight against corruption. If anyone deserves a candidate status today based on achievements, it is Georgia”, Papuashvili concluded in the interview.
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”.
Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Wednesday said providing support for Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and countries in the South Caucasus was “more important than ever,” vowing the EU would continue strengthening ties with the partnering states.
This is not the time for the European Union to “look critically” at Georgia, Ukraine or Moldova when a “political decision” on the countries’ membership bids are to be taken, Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, said on Friday.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Thursday said the country’s application for European Union membership was the result of the “tireless” and “unwavering” efforts of the Georgian people aimed at “regaining a place in the family” of European nations.