Parliament official reviews EU expansion, Georgia’s integration, Russian occupation at Salzburg Europe Summit
Botchorishvili stressed that as a result of the Russian aggression, “the [presence of] Russian military, violation of human rights in the occupied territories [and] separation of families” had become a “part of daily life” in Georgia. Photo: Salzburg Europe Summit
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Maka Botchorishvili, the chair of the Georgian parliament's European Union integration committee, on Sunday reviewed the importance of eastward expansion of the European Union for both Georgia and Europe, the process of the country's integration into the bloc and the “historic importance” of the EU granting Georgia a European perspective, at the Salzburg Europe Summit.
In her remarks at the discussion entitled New Enlargement - Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Botchorishvili also discussed the deteriorating security environment in the Black Sea region due to Russia's occupation of Georgian regions and its ongoing war in Ukraine.
As a result of the Russian aggression, many things have changed in Europe. Georgia experienced Russian aggression for many years in different forms. Russia's aggression in Georgia in 2008 unfortunately failed to wake up the West at the time, which ended with the occupation of 20 percent of Georgia's territories”, the parliament official said.
Botchorishvili stressed that as a result of the Russian aggression, “the [presence of] Russian military, violation of human rights in the occupied territories [and] separation of families” had become a “part of daily life” in Georgia.
“Our strategic task and goal is EU membership. This is our way and our future. The turning point was the signing of the association agreement with the European Union in 2014, although it lacked an important component - the perspective of EU membership”, she told participants of the forum.
The June decision of the European Council [on granting Georgia the European perspective] was very important for us, because it gave us a clear perspective that Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova would become members of the European Union”, Botchorishvili concluded.
Salzburg Europe Summit is held under the patronage of the president of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen and the federal chancellor Karl Nehammer, and organised by the Institute of European Regions.