Parliament committee chair: “ultimate goal” of gov’t is to join EU
In her remarks over the matter, Botchorishvili noted the group of members of the European parliament who “actively support” Georgia's accession to the EU was “quite large”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Maka Botchorishvili, the chair of the Georgian parliament’s European Union integration committee, on Tuesday said the “ultimate goal” of the Georgian authorities was to see the country join the EU, and the “most important” thing was to make “rapid progress” on this path.
In her remarks over the matter, Botchorishvili noted the group of members of the European parliament who “actively support” Georgia's accession to the EU was “quite large”.
“The group of MEPs who actively support the idea of Georgia joining the European Union and are ready to contribute to this process is quite large. Of course, the issue of implementation of the [EU] conditions is relevant, since this is a kind of guide for Georgia to make further progress in its relations with the European Union”, the parliament official said.
Together with our European colleagues, we are discussing how this process is going, what challenges we face in this process, and how we can achieve success together so that Georgia receives the status of a candidate country. Our ultimate goal is to join the European Union, and the most important thing is that we make rapid progress on the path to joining the European Union”, she concluded.
Josep Borrell, the European Union high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, on Tuesday said the implementation of the 12-point conditions for obtaining the EU membership candidate status was not only the Georgian government’s job but “everyone”, including citizens, should stand together to fulfil the recommendations.
On June 24, the European Council granted the membership candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, and said it would be ready to grant the same status to Georgia once the outstanding priorities outlined by the European Commission would be addressed by the Georgian Government.
Josep Borrell, the European Union high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, on Tuesday said the implementation of the 12-point conditions for obtaining the EU membership candidate status was not only the Georgian government’s job but “everyone”, including citizens, should stand together to fulfil the recommendations.
Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, on Tuesday said the “most important “advice for Georgia was to focus on the conditions of the European Commission for granting the country the EU membership candidate status, and expressed his hope “all stakeholders” in the country would work on the objective.
Ruling Georgian Dream party head Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said the messages voiced during and after the recent European Union-Georgia Association Council meeting in Brussels this week on the country’s European integration process were “very positive”.
The European Union-Georgia Association Council highlighted the “historic importance” of the decision of the European Council to recognise the European perspective to Georgia and underlined the future of Georgia and its citizens “lies within the European Union”, in a joint press statement on Wednesday.
The process of implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union for granting Georgia the membership candidate status was discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between the Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Pawel Herczynski, the European Union’s newly appointed ambassador to the country.
Maka Botchorishvili, the chair of the Georgian parliament’s European Union integration committee, on Thursday said European partners “unequivocally” supported the idea of the country’s integration into the European Union and a successful implementation of EU conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the Georgian government was following “diligently” each recommendation of the European Union for granting the country the membership candidate status, and expressed his hope for a “positive” political decision from the bloc.
Peter Fischer, the newly appointed ambassador of Germany to Georgia, on Wednesday said the European perspective - granted to Georgia by the European Council in June in response to the country’s application for European Union membership - was a “great opportunity” for Georgia, with the path to eventual membership candidate status being “very clear”.
Peter Fischer, the German ambassador to Georgia, on Wednesday said the process of the country implementing the European Union conditions for receiving the membership candidate status should be “inclusive, democratic and pluralistic”.
Thomas Mühlmann, the ambassador of Austria to Georgia, on Thursday said he was confident that if both the government and the opposition in Georgia worked together for fulfilling conditions for European Union membership candidate status, the objective would be successfully accomplished.
Maka Botchorishvili, the chair of the Georgian parliament’s European Union integration committee, on Thursday said it was “important” to have an “intensive relationship” with the country’s European partners and “discuss all challenges” facing the country with them.