Ruling party head stresses “political” decision of European Commission on Georgia’s EU bid
The GD official stressed the country was ahead of Ukraine and Moldova “in all parameters” relevant for the status, “in particular” in terms of democracy, rule of law, fight against corruption and economic parameters. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the decision of the European Commission to only grant the country the European Union membership candidate status if it met a number of conditions was “not an expert decision but a political one”.
The GD official stressed the country was ahead of Ukraine and Moldova “in all parameters” relevant for the status, “in particular” in terms of democracy, rule of law, fight against corruption and economic parameters.
This is an objective reality, the rest is a political decision. Consequently, the Government did everything to make the [EU membership] application successful, however we understand that the decision of the Commission was not an expert decision but a political one”, Kobakhidze said.
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 EU membership.
The European Commission on Friday recommended to the Council that Georgia should be given the perspective to become a member of the European Union. The Commission recommended that Georgia be granted candidate status once the certain priorities in different areas of the reform agenda are addressed.
The European Commission will monitor Georgia's progress to address these priorities and report on them by the end of 2022.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said he was “convinced” the country would receive the European Union membership candidate status “in the near future”.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, on Tuesday said the European Commission’s recommendation to grant the country “European prospective” was “undoubtedly” an “important step forward” on the country’s path to EU integration.
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.
Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Friday said Georgia was “firmly anchored” on its EU membership path following the recommendation of the European Commission on the country’s bid.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday hailed the “historic” decision of the European Commission to recommend the European Council to grant Georgia a European perspective, in an address to the Georgian Parliament.
Levan Karumidze, the First Deputy Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Integration Committee, said on Tuesday he hoped the members of the Georgian Parliament would agree on the bill on transparency of foreign influence that would be “acceptable” to the European Union and those citizens who had been working “tirelessly, honestly, honourably ” for the development of the country for years.