Helsinki Commission urges European Council to grant Georgia EU candidate status

The Helsinki Commission, a United States Government agency monitoring security in Europe, on Wednesday urged the European Council to grant Georgia the European Union membership candidate status.

The joint statement by the United States Congress members Ben Cardin, Roger Wicker, Steve Cohen and Joe Wilson stressed Georgian citizens had “sacrificed much” for their “European identity” over decades in the face of “Russian warmongering and the challenges of painful reforms”.

They have demonstrated that they can rise to the challenge if and when the path is clear.  We believe they too should be offered an equally concrete roadmap to EU membership”, the statement said.

It also stressed the EU membership candidate status would give the Associated Trio countries of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova a “fighting chance” in their common “European dream”.

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.