Parliament Vice Speaker “confident” European Council will grant Georgia membership candidate status

Gia Volski, a ruling party MP and the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Friday said he was “confident” the European Council would analyse “in depth” the “reality created around Georgia” and grant the country the European Union membership candidate status.

Despite criticism from some Members of the European Parliament, the ruling Georgian Dream party believes that given the “progress” made in recent years, Georgia has the prospects of gaining the candidate status, Volski said.

I am confident that the political leaders of the European Union, the European Council, will analyse in depth the reality that has arisen around Georgia, the threats Georgia faces, and will make the correct decision and grant Georgia the candidate status”, he noted.

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday criticised the European Parliament resolution on violations of media freedom and the safety of journalists in Georgia by saying the document was “not worth a dime”.

The Georgian official called “extremely disturbing” the fact of “such a high-ranking institution” of the European Union “falling a victim to fakes” in its approval of the resolution, and added the resolution had “nothing to do with European values”.