Georgian PM, European Commission president discuss implementation of EU membership status conditions
The conversation touched on Russia's aggression in Ukraine and its influence on Georgia, the region and the world in general, with Garibashvili highlighting the EU’s efforts to establish peace in the South Caucasus and reaffirming Georgia’s “readiness” to contribute to the mentioned process. Photo: Government administration
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The process of implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union for granting Georgia the membership candidate status was discussed on Thursday by the Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
During the meeting, within the framework of the first session of the inaugural summit of the European Political Community in Prague, Garibashvili highlighted the “historic” decision by the European Council to grant Georgia the European perspective and noted that the country has been “doing everything” to take the next step towards joining the EU and getting the membership candidate status.
Photo: Government administration
Garibashvili said Georgia had “immediately” begun to implement the conditions and stressed that the “inclusive process” has allowed “all branches” of the government, as well as the opposition parties and civil society, to be “fully involved” in the implementation process, for which the working groups had been created, the government administration said.
Very productive meeting w/ @vonderleyen on the future of security of the European continent. Grateful for the @EU_Commission for assisting ????????/w implementation of the reforms to ensure that ???????? is granted the ????????candidate status. ???????? is committed to ???????? future! pic.twitter.com/O7XrKkEQGB
— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) October 6, 2022
The conversation touched on Russia's aggression in Ukraine and its influence on Georgia, the region and the world in general, with Garibashvili highlighting the EU’s efforts to establish peace in the South Caucasus and reaffirming Georgia’s “readiness” to contribute to the mentioned process.
Good meeting with Prime Minister @GharibashviliGe
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 6, 2022
The EU remains committed to Georgia's security and territorial integrity.
We also want ???????? to advance and succeed on its EU path. Reform efforts must be sustained.
The @EU_Commission is ready to support in this process. pic.twitter.com/bUiWXQTR3D
The officials also discussed “further rapprochement” and infrastructural communication between Georgia and the EU in the transport, energy and digital sectors, and noted that transport infrastructure on the Black Sea had an “important place” in the EU’s transport and energy policy, adding the EU and Georgia would “further deepen” the cooperation in this direction.
The head of the government invited the president to Georgia at a “convenient time”.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday co-chaired a “high-level” thematic discussion in a roundtable format on the peaceful and secure future of the European Union, with his Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas, within the framework of the first session of the inaugural summit of the European Political Community in Prague.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said he had explained to the members of the EU-Georgia parliamentary association committee that the ruling party had offered “all parliamentary parties” to participate in the process of implementation of the 12-point conditions for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status.
The European Commision will present a report on the priorities in the enlargement package in 2023 to give the Georgian political system “sufficient time” to “thoroughly work” on the priorities for the European Union membership candidate status, Michael Rupp, a representative of the European Commission, said on Wednesday.
The Georgian Government is "mobilised to meet all conditions" set by the European Union for granting member candidate status to Georgia in a timely manner, in order to obtain the status on time, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at a briefing at the Government Administration on Friday.
The Georgian prime minister’s co-chairing of a discussion on peace and security in Europe at the inaugural summit of the European Political Community is a “very important signal” that the country is an “integral part of the European family”, foreign minister Ilia Darchiashvili said on Thursday.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, on Thursday said the European Union wanted Georgia to “advance and succeed” on its EU path, as the country is working to meet the bloc’s 12-point conditions for receiving the membership candidate status.
Kakha Kaladze, the mayor of Tbilisi and the secretary general of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said the government was “ready to implement all reforms” and take “appropriate steps” for the country to become a “full-fledged” member state of Europe.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, on behalf of the working group on the peaceful and secure future of the European Union thematic discussion, on Saturday, presented the summarising results of the discussion to the European leaders at the working dinner held within the framework of the European Political Community summit in Prague.
Georgia continues to fulfil visa liberalisation benchmarks and has taken action to address the European Commission’s previous recommendations, the fifth report of the Commission on the fulfilment of visa-free obligations by Eastern Partnership countries and the Balkan states said on Monday.
The European Union has recognised Georgia's European perspective, and it is up to candidate countries to reform their economies and their institutions and “advance towards our Union”, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Wednesday.