Parliament Speaker: joining EU, not candidate status, the goal of Gov’t
Papuashvili said the goal required implementation of the 2014 Association Agreement with the EU, and highlighted it as “the path” of the authorities. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday said the Georgian Government was aiming not for the European Union membership candidate status, but to join the bloc.
Papuashvili said the goal required implementation of the 2014 Association Agreement with the EU, and highlighted it as “the path” of the authorities.
Being a [EU membership] candidate does not bring anything special - our goal is not to be a candidate, but to join the European Union. [...] Our desire to move in this direction is crucial”, he noted.
[Ruling] Georgian Dream [party] is the only party that has fixed the issue of European Union membership in its election campaign programme. [...] The membership candidate status [for Georgia] will definitely be there today or tomorrow”, the head of the Georgian legislative body said in an interview with Imedi TV.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Friday said the European Commission had formally confirmed “for the first time” that the prospect of Georgia's accession to the European Union was an “irreversible reality”, and that the country would “definitely” become a member of the EU.
The European Commission on Friday recommended the European Council to grant Georgia “European prospective” before assessing how the country meets a number of conditions for receiving the European Union membership candidate status.
Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili on Friday welcomed the decision of the European Commission on granting Georgia “European perspective” as a “beacon” on the “arduous road” to European integration of the country.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Friday said the European Commission had formally confirmed “for the first time” that the prospect of Georgia's accession to the European Union was an “irreversible reality” and that the country would “definitely” become a member of the EU.
Georgia has been waiting for an official recognition of its European perspective for many years, and the Government is pleased that this perspective has been officially recognised by the European Commission, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Friday.
The European Commission on Friday recommended the European Council to grant Georgia “European prospective” before assessing how the country meets a number of conditions for receiving the European Union membership candidate status.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the Georgian Government would be “properly prepared” to report on its reform progress to the European Commission by the end of the year.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday pledged the Government would implement all recommendations of the European Commission on Georgia’s European Union bid.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said if the European Commission had adopted a “merit-based approach” in its decision on Georgia’s membership bid, the country would have been “the first” to receive the candidate status for European Union membership.
The 12 conditions outlined by the European Council for granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status later this year are seen as part of the “revolutionary plan” of the “radical opposition” in the country, three MPs who left the ruling party last week to publicise “behind-the-scenes developments” of the domestic political field said in a statement on Monday.
The European Union’s conditions for granting the membership candidate status to Georgia and the country's plans for implementing them were discussed on Thursday in a meeting between Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, and Natalia Voutova, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia.