Parliament Speaker believes in “positive outcome” for Georgia’s EU bid “in case of merit-based approach”

Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said if the opinion of the European Commission on the European Union candidacy of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia was “based on merit”, then Georgia deserved the membership candidate status.

During the meetings [with European partners] we emphasised two things: one, if the decision is based on merit, then Georgia deserves the candidacy, and if the decision is based on geopolitical considerations, then Georgia also deserves it”, the head of the Georgian legislative body said.

Papuashvili underlined that “objective assessments” showed that Georgia was a leader among some EU membership candidate countries in terms of reform progress.

So we think for both the case where [the European Commission] makes a decision based on merit, and for the case it is made on geopolitical feasibility, there should be a positive outcome”, he concluded.

The European Commission is expected to deliver its opinion on the EU candidacy of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia on Friday. The Council is then expected to make a final decision on each country on June 23-24.