EU ambassador: European perspective should unite Georgians

Pawel Herczynski, the European Union ambassador to Georgia, on Tuesday said the implementation of the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status required involvement of both the government and the opposition, calling the objective a goal that “should unite” the country.

In an interview with the local news agency InterPressNews, Herczynski noted the significance of the work for European integration - especially in “these very turbulent and uncertain times” - but added it was for Georgians to decide “if and how” they wanted to move closer to the EU.

“It would be a really huge mistake if this opening given by the European Council, given by the leaders of the European Union, saying that Georgia has a European perspective, that Georgia is part of the European family, is wasted”, he said.

I know that the government has a very ambitious plan in order to implement those 12 conditions. But it's not only for the government. It's for everyone across the political lines to build bridges and to work constructively in order to make progress in those 12 areas”, Herczynski continued. 

The EU diplomat stressed the government needed to provide “inclusivity”, while the opposition had to show a “constructive” approach in the process.

The opposition needs to work together with the government in order to make sure that the progress is made. This requires everyone to get together and to work in a spirit of national interest. And I believe that it is possible”, he said.

“I hope that the Georgian stakeholders, everyone that is involved, will all work in the spirit of constructiveness in order to make progress on the 12-point recommendations”, he concluded in his comments.