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Croatian parliament committee chair: “very disappointed” Georgia has not been given EU membership candidate status

Hajduković stressed the “European project” was “not complete” until every country that “shares our values and wants to be a member of our Union” joined the bloc. Photo: Parliament of Georgia

Agenda.ge, 04 Oct 2022 - 16:24, Tbilisi,Georgia

Domagoj Hajduković, the chair of the European affairs committee of the Croatian parliament who is on a visit to Georgia, on Tuesday said he was “very disappointed” that Georgia had not been granted the European Union membership candidate status in June, while expressing his confidence that once necessary reforms are implemented, the country will receive the status. 

In remarks after his meeting with the speaker of the Georgian parliament Shalva Papuashvili, Hajduković noted Croatia had succeeded in its path of EU integration and was “ready to help” Georgia to speed up the process of its admission to the bloc.

I am personally very disappointed that Georgia was not given the [EU] membership candidate status like Ukraine and Moldova, but I am sure that in the near future, when you do your homework, when you implement the necessary reforms, you will be granted this status”, the Croatian parliament official said.

Hajduković stressed the “European project” was “not complete” until every country that “shares our values and wants to be a member of our Union” joined the bloc.

You should not lose momentum and faith, you should not be discouraged, because many reforms may seem painful - and in the short term they really are - but in the long run, you can benefit from it”, he concluded in his comments.

In his turn, the speaker of the Georgian parliament noted that he had held a “positive conversation” with members of the Croatian parliament delegation.

We stand ready to enhance parliamentary exchange to intensify people-to-people contacts and  promote Georgia’s European integration”, Papuashvili said.