Ruling party head says gov’t following EU conditions “diligently”, hopes for “positive” political decision from EU
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. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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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.
In his remarks over the matter, Kobakhidze noted the decision of the European Council to grant Ukraine the membership candidate status - in the same decision that delayed the status for Georgia until the conditions are met - was “completely political” as the country was in a state of war, and not granting the status would have been “absolutely incomprehensible”.
But Moldova is a member state of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The CIS is the largest international association under the Russian umbrella. The constitution of Moldova says that it will never become a member of NATO, it has the worst problems in terms of corruption, fragility of institutions, etc. [...] At such a time, when you grant the candidate status to a CIS member Moldova and not to Georgia, it is absolutely clear that this was a completely political decision”, the GD official said.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said a “radical part” of the domestic opposition was “sabotaging” the implementation of European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Deepening of the cooperation between Georgia and the European Union was discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia.
Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Monday said the European Commission and EU member states would “do everything to help you and we hope for a positive result” in the bloc’s assessment of the country’s implementation of conditions for receiving a EU membership candidate status.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said he hoped the European Union would make a "fair decision" on granting Georgia the membership candidate status by the end of the year.