Slovak PM urges German Chancellor to support Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova as EU membership candidates
During a visit to Berlin, Heger stressed the need for a “strong” Europe. Photo: GettyImages
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Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger on Tuesday urged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to support Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova as European Union membership candidates, while also calling on the German leader to see the horrors of the war in Ukraine with his “own eyes”.
During a visit to Berlin, Heger stressed the need for a “strong” Europe.
We have to realise that the enlargement [of the European Union] is a must. The world needs Europe to be strong. And the countries are waiting”, the Slovak Prime Minister noted.
Heger also added accepting Ukraine or other states as official EU membership candidates would just be a “first step”, and that any further progress toward their actual inclusion in the bloc must be “merit-based”.
Every country should be given the opportunity for individual effort for becoming a member of the EU. And depending on their effort, they will decide when they will become a member”, Heger concluded.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the country would not deviate from the path of European integration regardless of the decision of the European Commission on Georgia’s European Union membership candidate bid.
Gunther Krichbaum, an MP from the Christian Democratic Union in the Bundestag, on Monday said it was “in Germany’s interest” to “open a path” to the European Union for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Georgian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, on Monday said granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status would be a “good motivation” to pursue “necessary reforms”.
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.
The Embassy of the United States to Georgia on Tuesday said the United States would not “turn its back” on its partners in Georgia and Ukraine no matter how much their independence might “annoy” Russia.
Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday expressed his hope Denmark would support Georgia’s European aspirations and granting the country the European Union membership candidate status.
The Senate of Ireland on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling on the European Union and its institutions to grant Georgia the membership candidate status.
German Ambassador to Georgia Hubert Knirsch on Wednesday said he would participate in a public rally planned in Tbilisi in support of the country’s European Union integration and announced by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday held the farewell meeting with Pavel Vizdal, the Slovakian Ambassador to the country who completed his diplomatic term in Georgia.