EU commissioner: Georgian economy “obviously” developing
At the press conference alongside prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, Varhelyi said “[t]he economy is booming, I went through the city and it is obvious to everyone that the economy is developing, there is progress in Georgia”. Photo: 1TV
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Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, on Tuesday told a press briefing in Tbilisi there were “obvious” signs the Georgian economy was developing.
At the press conference alongside prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, Varhelyi said “[t]he economy must be booming – on our way to the city it was apparent for anyone who has been missing the last year.
It is great to be back in Georgia. It has been a bit more than a year I was here the last time, and to be frank with you, I can already see the development [...] So I think that there is progress in Georgia, in the economy, and I am here as Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement! This is the first time that it is not only neighbourhood – one part of my portfolio – is active, but also the other one which is enlargement", he also told the briefing.
He also added the country had “shown us very clearly that only joining the European Union is a strong and solid goal of Georgia, and long-term stability and peace are needed for this”. The EU official also noted “[w]e have listened to this message very clearly, and I am here not only to tell you that we heard the message, but also to tell you that we are ready to deliver on this message".
We want to help to get Georgia ready for becoming a member of the European Union, still under our generation – as the Prime Minister also made the point. So in the forthcoming weeks and months, we will have to work very hard and we need Georgia to work very hard to demonstrate its readiness to become a candidate country", Varhelyi said
Varhelyi started his official visit today, meeting Garibashvili in one-on-one and expanded formats. The EU commissioner is next scheduled to meet president Salome Zourabichvili.
The European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, on Tuesday, discussed Georgia’s European perspective and the 12-point conditions set by the bloc for granting the country the membership candidate status at the meetings with Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili, parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili and representatives of various parliamentary parties.
The European Union accession process of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova should be accompanied by “unwavering support” from the bloc’s institutions, Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili told Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, in a face-to-face meeting in Tbilisi on Tuesday.
Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, on Tuesday said Georgia required “national consensus” to meet the 12-point conditions set by the bloc for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Oliver Varhelyi, the EU commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, on Tuesday recognised the “active work” of the Georgian government on fulfilling the conditions outlined by the European Union for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said his government was “well aware” of the importance of the country’s “European future” and was recognising the “responsibility and spirit” of the realisation in its work on the implementation of the conditions or receiving the European Union membership candidate status.
“All genuine results” achieved on Georgia’s European integration path are the “merit” of the current government of the country, prime minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Tuesday at a press conference in Tbilisi with Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement.
Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, Georgia's representative to the European Union, on Tuesday said the visit of Oliver Varhelyi, the EU commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, to the country would focus on the “new opportunities” the “new reality” had brought to Georgia.
Pawel Herczynski, the European Union’s ambassador to Georgia, on Tuesday said he hoped the visit of Oliver Varhelyi, the EU commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, to the country would push the relations “even further”.
Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, on Tuesday said the “most important “advice for Georgia was to focus on the conditions of the European Commission for granting the country the EU membership candidate status, and expressed his hope “all stakeholders” in the country would work on the objective.
Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, on Tuesday told a press briefing in Tbilisi the bloc wanted to have a “partnership in terms of reliable energy supply from Georgia”, and to establish energy security in Georgia, the Caucasus and Europe through the initiative.